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HISTORY
OF
SCOTTISH SEALS,
HISTORY
OK
SCOTTISH SKALS
fMom the eleventh to the seventeenth century,
with rpwards of two hundred illustrations
derived from the finest and most
interesting examples extant.
BY
WALTER DE GRAY BIRCH, LLD., F.S.A.,
LATE OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
VOL. I.
THE ROYAL SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
Stiumno : Eneas Mackay, 43 MriiKAV Plaik.
LONIION : T. FlSlIKH UnWIN, 1 I PaTKRNOSTKI! lUlI.DINCiS, E.C
1905.
Stirling OLiscivci- Office.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
The Great Seals of the Sovereigns, - - - - 9
CHAPTER II.
The Fifteexth Century : — Murdach Stuart — James I. to
James V., - - - - - - - ")3
CHAPTER III.
The Renaissance — Mary, (jJueen of Scots, and Her Successors, G8
CHAPTER IV.
Seals of Queens-Consokt and of Offkkrs of State, - SO
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
I'AGE
No. 1. Duncan II., King of Scots, - - - - - 97
„ 2. Edgar, King of Scots, . . - . - 99
„ 3. Mathildis, or Maud, of Scotland, . - - - loi
„ 4. Alexander I., King of Scots, .... 103
„ 5. Alexander I., King of Scots, - - - - - lOo
„ 6. William "the Lion," King of Scots, - - - 107
„ 7. William "the Lion," King of Scots,- - - - lU!)
„ 8. Alexander II., King of Scots, - - - - 111
„ 9. Alexander II., King of Scots, .... 113
„ 10. Alexander III., King of Scots (Fir.st Seal), - - ll.>
„ 11. Alexander III., King of Scots (First Seal), - - - 117
„ 12. Alexander III., King of Scots (Second Seal), - - 119
„ 13. Alexander III., King of Scots (Second Seal), - - 121
„ 14. Great Seal appointed for the Government of the Kkal.m
after Death of King Alexander III., - - 123
„ 15. Great Seal appointed for the Government of the Keal.m
after Death of King Alexander III., - - - 12.")
„ If). John Balliol, King of Scots, .... 127
„ 17. John Balliol, King of Scots, - - - - - 129
„ 18. Edward I., Kixc; ok England (Seal for ( JoveiiHucnt <>(
Scotland), ------- 131
„ 19. Edwap.d I., King ok En(;lam) (Rever.se of Seal for
Govei'nnient of Scotland), . . . - . 133
„ 20. Robert Bruce I., King of Scots (First Seal), - - 13")
„ 21. Robert Bruce I., King of Scots (Fir.st Seal), - - 137
„ 22. RoHERT Bruce I., King of Scots (Second Seal), - - 139
LIST (»F ILLI'STRATIONS.
•24.
2.-).
2f).
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
3.-).
3f;.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
4:).
46.
47.
48.
49.
")().
:)i.
:>2.
53.
RoBEUT Brixe I., KiXG OF ScoTS (Set'(>iul Seal), - - 141
D.vviD II., King of Scots, - - - - - 143
David II., King of Scots, - ... 14,-,
Edward Balliol, King of Scots, - - - - 147
Edward Balliol, King of Scots, .... 149
ROHERT StI'ART II., KlXG OF ScOTS, - - - 151
Robert Stuart II., Kixg of Scots, .... \:,:\
Robert Stuart II., King of Scots, - - - 1.").")
Robert Stuart II., King of Scots (Later Seal), - - l.')7
James I., King of Scots, - . . . . i.-)0
James L, King of Scots, - - - - - Kil
Egbert Stuart, Duke of Albany, (Governor of Scotland, etc., 1()3
Robert Stu.\rt, Duke of Albany, Governor of Scotland, etc-., l(i.")
MuRDACH Stuart, Regent of Scotland, etc., - - l(i7
MuRDACii Stuart, Regent of Scotland, etc., - - 109
James II., King of Scots, - - - - - 171
J.VMES II., King of Scots, - - - - - 173
James V., King of Scots (Second Seal), - - - 17.")
James Y., King of Scots (Second Seal), - - - 177
Mary, Queen of Scots (First Seal), - - - 179
Mary, Queen of Scots (First Seal), ... - isi
Mary, (^)ueen of Scots (Second Seal), - - - 183
Mary, Queen of Scots (Counterseal of the Second Seal), - 18.")
Mary, Queen of Scots (Third Seal), - - - 187
Mary, Queen of Scots (Counterseal of the Third Seal), - 189
James VI., King of Scots (Seal foi' Scotland), - - 191
Ja.mes YI., King of Scots (Seal for Scotland), - - 193
James I., King of Great Britain (Seal for Scotland), - 19.")
.Iames I., King of Great Britain (Seal for Scotland), - 197
Charles I., King of Great Britain (Seal for Scotland), 199
Charles I., King of Gre.a.t Britain (Seal for Scotland), - 201
^^*->^.
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
CHAPTER I.
The Great Seals of the Sovereigns.
THE earliest history of the kings of Scotland, like that of
kings of other countries, is involved in obscurity. One
of the latest writers on the royal Scottish genealogy
gives a pedigree commencing with Alpin the Scot, whose son.
Kenneth L — called Kenneth Mac Alpin — held the reins of
empire from a.d. 844 to 859, in which latter year he was
succeeded by his brother, Donald L Kenneth I. left three
children — Constantine I., who ruled from a.d. 863 to S// ;
Aed, who succeeded his elder brother, a.d. Syy, and gave place
to Eocha, son of Run, the husband of a daughter, the third
child of Kenneth L T2ocha was succeeded by Donald II., son
lO THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
of Constantine I., a.d, 889-900. To him succeeded Constantine
II., son of Aed, a.d. 900-942. Malcolm I., son of Donald II.,
ruled from a.d. 942 to 954, and was followed by Indulf, son of
Constantine II., a.d. 954-962. The next king on record is
Dubh, eldest son of Malcolm II., a.d. 962-967; then Cuilean,
son of Indulf, a.d. 967-971 ; Kenneth II., second son of
Malcolm I., a.d. 971-995; Constantine III., son of Cuilean,
A.D. 995-997 ; and Kenneth III., son of Dubh, a.d. 997-1005.
To the last of these succeeded Malcolm II,, son of Kenneth II.
He is called Malcolm Maccinaeth, King of Alban, King of
Scotia, and by other titles. He was born in or before a.d.
954, and became King of Scots in Alban, after defeating his
cousin Kenneth III., in battle at Monzievaird, on the River
Earn, about 25th March, 1005. In 1031, Scotia was invaded
by Canute, or Cnut, King of England, and Malcolm II., with
two powerful chieftains, submitted to him in 1031. I^ing
Malcolm II. died, after a reign of upwards of twenty-nine
years, at the age of eighty or more years, at Glammys, on the
25th November, 1034. To Malcolm II. succeeded his grandson,
Duncan the First — known as Duncan the Wise — King of
Scots, or King of the Cumbrians. Shakespeare calls him "the
Gracious Duncan" in Macbeth. He was the eldest son of the
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. I I
thegn Crinan, hereditary lay Abbot of Dunkeld, and Steward
of the Isles, by his wife, Bethoc, eldest daughter of the previous
monarch. After a short reign of five years and eight months,
he was murdered by Macbeth, one of his commanders, at
Bothnagowan, or Pitgaveny, near Elgin, on 14th August, 1040.
To him succeeded his murderer, Macbeth, the niormaer of
Moray, son of Finlaec, the mormaer; his mother being supposed
to have been Donada, the second daughter of King Malcolm II.
Macbeth met his death by the hands of his murderer, Malcolm,
King of the Cumbrians, afterwards known as Malcolm III.,
" Ceannmor," at Lunfanan, in Mar, 15th August, a.d. 1057;
and after the short reign of Lulach, son of Gillacomgan,
mormaer of Moray, by his wife, Gruoch, daughter of Bodhe,
and stepson of King Macbeth, who married Gruoch, on
Gillacomgan's death, who was also murdered by Malcolm, at
Essie, in Strathbogie, 17th March, 1057-8. The murderer* sat
upon the throne of his victims as the "Great Head," or Chief,
— the last king who possessed Alban — being the eldest son
* In H.M. Recor^d Office there is a remarkable seal, imperfect, in brown wax, attributed
to Malcolm IIL, (ji Canmore, King of Scots. It hears a shield of arms: a lion rampant, the
tail curved inwards, after a peculiar manner (to be discussed hereafter), within a double tressure
flory countertlory, the Royal Arms of Scotland of a later age. This is an undoubted forgery,
I 2 THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
of King Duncan I. This king invaded England on several
occasions, and on the last occasion he met his death at the
hands of Morel of Bamborough, at Alnwick, in Northumberland,
on 13th November, 1093, after a reign of upwards of thirty-five
years. To him followed his younger brother, Donald Bane,
King of Scots, or of Alban, at the age of about sixty years,
but after six months he was deposed by his nephew, Duncan,
eldest son of Malcolm III., by his first wife, Ingibjorg, daughter
of Earl Finn Arnason, and widow of Thorfinn Sigurdson, Earl
of Orkney. In a charter, still preserved at Durham, he styles
himself " Dunecan, son of King Malcolumb, by hereditary right
King of Scotia." In this king's reign the history of the Seals
of Scotland beo^ins. These seals have had considerable attention
drawn to theni by several writers, but no one has taken up the
subject comprehensively. One of the earliest writers is James
Anderson, whose Diplomahirn Scotie Thesaurus, also known
by the title of Diplomata Scotie, published at Edinburgh, in
<
probably to be attributed to the notorious John Harding, whose work is seen again on another
seal presently to be mentioned. The charter to which it has been fixed is an acknowledgment
by Malcolm of Edward the Confessor's overlordship, and is dated 5th Jun«, 1065. A moment's
glance at this seal will convince the merest beginner of its spurious character. The legend,
if ever there was one, has been conveniently chipped away. Of this seal there are two casts
among the collections in the British Museum, described in the catalogue at p. 647.
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
folio, in 1/39, gave engrav^ed fac-similes of royal charters, and
reproduced the seals, but he gives no description of them.
Thomas Astle's Accozmt of the Seals . . . of Scot/and,
1792, is a work of considerable value. Henry Laing,
in 1850, published at Edinburgh his Descriptive Catalogue
of hnpressiojis from Ancient Scottish Seals . . . taken
from Original Charters, etc.,'' and a Supplemental Descriptive
Catalogue, in 1866, but his descriptions are confused
and sometimes incorrect. In 1895, the fourth volume of the
Catalogue of Seals in the Department of I\Iamiscripts in the
British Museum was published, the contents of which included
technical descriptions of the largest public collection of Scottish
and Irish seals then available to research, with numerous
illustrations. There are short but useful articles on the Great
Seals of Scotland by Allan Wyon, F.S.A., Chief Engraver of
Her Majesty's Seals, in the Journal of the British Arc hcrological
Association, \o\. XLY., for 1889.
The Seal of King Duncan II., the earliest extant Great
Seal, is best known from an impression, unfortunately not
perfect, preserved among the numerous Scottish documents
in possession of the Dean and Chapter of Durham. When
perfect the seal measured about two inches and one-eighth.
14 THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
On it arc observed the king riding on a warhorse turned to
the right. He is attired in a kind of trellised or fretty
hauberk or shirt of mail ; the helmet is of the conical shape
in use generally at the time, and is furnished with a nasale,
or projecting piece for protection of the nose. In his
right hand the king holds a lance-tlag, the pennon of which
is of two points. In his left hand he holds the strap of a
kite-shaped shield, but it is only seen from the interior, so that
if the king at this early time bore any preheraldic device
graven on his shield, this gives us no assistance in ascertaining
what it may have been. The horse is furnished with a small
saddle of simple form, having a high curved pommel and
crupper, and across the breast carries the breast-band or poy-
trail, that is, pectoral, and the head-harness. Of the legend only
the first and last parts remain, but from Laing's suggestion for
the full legend it may fairly be read thus —
SU;ILl[vM . DVNCANI . DEO . RECTOKE . REGLS . SC0t]0RVAL
The part within brackets is not now existent on the seal.
The charter to which this seal is appended is believed to be
the earliest document of its kind relating to Scotland. It is
dated, by internal evidence, but not specifically expressed,
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
between the month of April and the 12th of November, 1094.
In it the King styles himself — " Dunecan, son of King
Malcolumb, by hereditary right King of Scotia." Duncan was
entrapped and betrayed to death by his half-brother, Eadmund,
T
and his paternal uncle, Donald Bane, to Malpeder Macloen,
the mormaer of the Mearns, at Monacheden, on the 12th of
November, 1094, being then aged about thirty-four years.
Of Donald Bane, who succeeded to the throne a second
time, on the death of Duncan, no seal is known to exist. He
was deposed by his nephew, Eadgar, with English assistance,
in October, 1097, ^^^ deprived of eyesight.
Eadgar, having deposed Donald, came to the throne of
Scotland when about twenty-three years old. There is an
impression, somewhat severely chipped, in the possession of the
Dean and Chapter of Durham, which measures about two inches
and three-eighths in diameter, and is, therefore, not much larger
than the preceding seal of the series. Here the equestrian
figure of the warrior-king is replaced by a representation
of a law-giving king, enthroned on a stool or chair of
3tate, designed with the legs terminating like the claws of
an eagle. The king's arms are uplifted from the elbow, and
he is attired in a loosely-shaped mantle falling down in ample
1 6 THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
folds between the knees, and fastened with a ferniail, or
brooch, over the right shoulder. The crown is indistinct, and
of circular shape, perhaps consisting of trefoils, or lleurs-de-lis,
on a circlet, and finished with a cross on the top. In the right
hand the king holds the royal septre, with the butt resting on
his knee, emblematic of his sway over his subjects ; in the
left hand, a sword, held, not by the usual grip, but near
the point, with the handle resting on the left knee. This
symbolises his intention of defending his kingdom and
his right against all enemies. The feet rest on a dais or
platform of restricted dimensions. The legend or inscription is
unconventional, and, with missing letters supplied, it reads —
nL\GO . EDGARI . SCOTTORV.M . I5ASILEL
Eadgar's sister, the "good Queen Maud," was married to
Henry I., King of England, at Westminster, on the nth
November, i loo. Her seal is of interest, but does not belong
to the series of Scottish Royal Seals ; it is given in order to
enable the student to compare Scottish and English seal-
art at this remote period. This is a pointed, oval seal,
measuring about three inches and one-eighth by two inches and
three-sixteenths, bearing a standing figure of the Queen Consort
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. I 7
wearing a long dress, the cloak fastened at her throat, long
sleeves or maunches, and headdress, all component parts of the
inartistic and apparently uncomfortable attire used by royal anti
noble personages in the twelfth century. The queen stands on
a flat platform, or corbel, and holds, in the right hand, a sceptre,
with open trefoiled handle, the head of which is of cruciform
shape and surmounted with a dove, symbolical of mercy,
clemency, and gentleness. In the left hand we see the mound
or orb of the realm, usual emblem of royalty and rule. The
legend, when complete, was —
SIGILLVM . MATHILDIS . SECVNDAE . DEI . GRATL\
REGINAE . ANGLLAE.
The use of the word second is probably to distinguish the
Queen from Maud, or Mathildis, the first Queen Consort,
wife of William the Conqueror.
With Alexander the First, who was King from the 8th of
January, 1 106-7, to 23rd April, 112^1, a new type of Great
Seal was initiated which has endured — with few but notable
interruptions — to the present day. This is the duplex type,
where the king, as king, seated on a throne, is delineated on
the one side, and as military leader, riding to war on a charger
iS THE SEALS OF SCOTLAM).
at the head of his host, on the other. A fine but imperfect
impression of the Great Seal of Alexander I. is extant. It
measures about two inches and five-eighths in diameter. It is
difficult to determine whether the throne side or the rider side
should be considered the obverse or the reverse, nor is it
material to do so. Some of the later Great Seals, of which
notice is given in their proper chronological order, appear to
favour the view that the horse side is the more important of the
two, and should, therefore, be called the obverse, while other
seals apparently favour the opposite view, and point to the
throne side as obverse.
In this seal of Alexander we will call the horse side the
obverse, or principal side. Here the king is riding to the right
in profile. He wears the hauberk of mail, on which the
llattened rings of metal are distinctly noticeable on the stuff
which fits closely to the body, with a short skirt. Beneath it are
the tunic, cJiatissds, or leggings, of the same style, and spur. On
his head is a conical helmet with the nasale, already described
in Eadgar's seal. Beneath the helmet is the hood, or coif of
mail, attached to the hauberk, and thrown back so as to show
the king's face. In the right hand is a gonfanon, with three
streamers, and Mr. \\ yon, in a paper on the Great Seals of
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 1 9
Scotland, which was re^d at Glasgow during an Archaeological
Congress in 1888, thinks that the almost illegible design on the
flag may represent St. Andrew, the patron saint of the realm,
standing in front of his cross, the head towards the lance. I
must confess to being unable to verify this, but it may be that
impressions found hereafter will confirm or dispel the idea. In
the left hand the king holds a kite-shaped shield by the inner
strap or clutch, showing the inner surface only. The trappings
of the horse consist of a breast-band or poytrail, ornamented
with ball-fringe on hanging rings, a small saddle, the stirrup, and
head-stalls, and, lastly, a kind of nasal projection. The legend
when perfect reads — -
ALEXANDER . DEO . RECTORE . REX . SCOTTORV.M.
The reverse of this remarkable seal — remarkable as being
the first of a long series of seals which draw their design from it
— shows us the king enthroned in majesty. He wears a close-
fitting, cap-shaped crown, furnished on each side with a pendent
tie, or chin-strap, of three tufts or buttons, perhaps a trefoil
ornament. The details of the crown are not very distinct. He
has the tunic with tight sleeves, the mantle fastened at the
throat and adorned with a broad bordure or orphrey, on which
20 THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
are seen circular studs, knobs, or buttons. In the king's right
hand is a broad sword, so held that the point inclines towards
the king's head, and in the left hand a mound, or orb, emblematic
of royal sovereignty, topped with a long cross, as almost
universally adopted by Christian kings and emperors. The
throne is cushioned, its form is square, and the dais on which
the royal feet rest is rectangular. In the field, or ground, of the
seal, on the right hand side is a roundle, or circular plaque,
charged with a device, perhaps a rosette or ileurette, but too
indistinct to be defined more exactly. On the left hand side,
which is broken away, there was probably a similar device.
The legend is nearly similar to that above —
ALEXANDER . DEO . RECTORE . REX . SCOTTORV.
David I., the successor of Alexander, was the ninth, and
youngest, son of Malcolm III., being the sixth son by his
second wife, St. Margaret, the daughter of Eadward ^^uheling.
His youth was spent in the English Court, with his brother-in-
law, Henry I., who married his sister, Maud, or Mathildis, of
whose seal some notice has already occupied our attention.
David became king 23rd April, 1 124, on the death of Alexander.
His seal is only known by an engraving in Anderson's
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 2 I
Diplomata Scoticc, plate xii., and a very imperfect impression
attached to a charter in the British Museum. It is similar in
design to that of Alexander, and is probably from the same
matrix, with altered legend to suit the new king, but in the
impression there is not sufficient left to prove this.
On the death of David I., at the age of about seventy-three,
he was succeeded by Malcolm IV., called the " Maiden," from
his youthful and feminine appearance. He was the eldest son
of Henry the Earl, Prince of Scotland, and Earl of Northumber-
land and Huntingdon, by his wife, Ada, daughter of William,
Earl of Warenne in Normandy, and of Surrey. Earl Henry,
the youngest son of David I., had died in the lifetime of his
father. Laing and Wyon describe this king's seal, which, from
the fragmentary impression among the Panmure Charters, was
apparently similar to the two foregoing seals of Alexander I.
and David I. Of the legend nothing can be distinguished that
will enable us to say if it had been altered to suit the king's
name or not.
The next seal introduces to notice a marked improvement
in the technique of the seal engraver's art. The middle of the
twelfth century was undoubtedly a period of great and rapid
advancement in all the arts and sciences which tended towards
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
the improvement of human ideas, and this is reflected in the
relics which may be still handled and inspected as undoubtedly
belonging to that age. Seals and coins are almost the only
class of antiquities — except, perhaps, dated manuscripts — which
carry their own date with them, and their details and dissected
parts throw light upon the manners and customs, the history,
the heraldry, the weapons, dress, armour, language, and
paleography of the times to which they must be referred. The
Seal of William the Lion transcends all its forerunners by size,
design, conception, feeling, and delicacy of technique, all of
which stamp it as far superior to what had gone before, and as
possessing — in a nascent and archaic way, it is true — the germs
of what the seal engraver of the next two or three centuries
eventually brought to the highest perfection.
William the Lion was the brother of the preceding king,
and the Earldom of Northumberland had been assigned to
him by King David I., his grandfather, in 1152. He was
consecrated King by the Bishop of St. Andrews at Scone,
on the 24th of December, 1165. After invasion of England
and capture, he surrendered the independence of the kingdom
to Henry H. of England by the Convention of Falaise in
Normandy, 8th December, 11 74, but was subsequently released,
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
and his independence restored by Richard I., 5th December,
1 1 89, and died at StirHng, 4th December, 12 14, after a long
reign of nearly forty-nine years.
The one side of William's seal shows the king's effigy
riding on a horse springing to the right. He wears the conical
helmet and nasale, the hauberk of mail, and the other details
which we have seen on the figure of his predecessor. In his
right hand is a long lance-flag, with three pennons or streamers
fluttering forwards. The convex shield is furnished with a
central spike, or umbo, and is supported before the king's
breast by the strap slung over the rider's neck. In the left
hand he holds the reins. The horse's trappings resemble
those already described, and from below the body of the horse
is seen the scabbard of the sword hanging from the left thigh
of the king. The inscription or legend is the same on both
sides of the seal —
WILLELMVS . DEO . RECTOKE . REX . SCOTTORVM.
On the other side of this seal we have the royal figure
of the king, a somewhat tall and slender form, wearing a tunic
with sleeves, a long mantle fastened at the throat and thrown
behind, and a cap-shaped crown. In the right hand is the long
24 THK SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
sword with longitudinal groove, here held nearly vertical ; in
the left, the cross-topped mound or orb. His throne is
cushioned, the sides slope towards the top, like the pylon of
an Egyptian temple ; at each side of the base or plinth is a
small crook-like finial, and the dais or footboard is rectangular.
The legend is the same as on the other side, but appears to
be wanting the initial cross, which was, strictly speaking, the
symbol or "little sign," described as the "sigillum" in most
seals other than the great seals of royal personages.
To William the Lion succeeded his only son, Alexander the
Second, by his wife, Ermengarde, daughter of Richard, the
Yicomte of Beaumont. He had been knighted by King John
of England, 4th March, 121 1-2, and became king at the age of
sixteen years. He died, aged fifty, on the 8th of July, 1249.
He is the first King of Scots who used heraldry in his seal.
On the one side of this seal, which is about three inches and
a half in diameter, we see the king riding on a horse pacing or
walking to the right. He wears the hauberk of mail ; the
surcoat with flowing skirt, which must have trailed on the ground
when he was on foot ; the tlat-topped helmet, with vizor, which
had replaced the conical cap and nasale of past days ; in his right
hand is the sword, with a deep channel along the blade ; over
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 25
his vest is slung the strap of the convex shield, which here for
the first time we find charged heraldically. It bears a Hon
rampant, not yet apparently confined within the double tressure
flory counterflory which forms with it the royal heraldry of
Scotland. It is too indistinct, on all the impressions and casts
which I have seen, to speak of with absolute certainty, although
Sir Archibald H. Dunbar* sees on the shield a tressure fleurs-
de-lis. Nor can we here distinguish the position in which the
lion's tail is delineated, a point of some interest, as will be shown
hereafter. The horse-trappings are simple : the plain saddle
with high cantle, the breast-band with five pendants, and the
bordered saddle-cloth behind the seat, charged apparently, as
the shield, with a lion rampant, contournc', as heralds say, that is,
turned facing to the sinister, or right hand, of the spectator,
instead of to the dexter, or left hand, of the spectator, as all
heraldic charges are drawn and depicted unless especially
declared to be otherwise. The legend on each side of the seal
is —
ALEXANDER . DEO . RECTORK . REX . SCOTTORVM.
Scottish Kings, p. 89.
26 THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
On the other side the king appears in his majesty, enthroned
and paramount. He is attired in a tunic with girdle, and over
it a loose mantle caught up on the right knee, laid on the
cushion on the left side, and hanging down behind. He has a
small crown or cap ; the grooved sword in the right hand, with
its point inclined towards the king's head ; the left hand holds
the orb, or spherical mound of the world, ensigned with a long
cross ornamented with two knops in the stem. The throne is
cushioned, and the cover of the cushion is diapered ; the panel
work on the front of the throne is adorned with a small arcade.
The rectangular dais is also relieved with diaper work. At
each extremity of the throne is a tree of elegant design,
emblematic (as every detail in seal art is, of some prominent
fact) of his knighting by the neighbouring king of Plantagenet
race. Durham Cathedral Chapter possesses no less than fifteen
impressions of the seal, attached to original charters in
possession of the Dean and Chapter ; the British Museum,
eight ; and other seals are preserved among the Melrose
Charters and other repositories of Scottish diplomata.
To Alexander II. succeeded his only son, Alexander III,,
born of his second wife, Marie, daughter of Enquerand HI.,
Baron of Coucy. He came to the throne of the Scots on 8th
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND, 27
July, 1249, at the early age of seven years, and was set on the
" throne, that is, the stone," at Scone, 13th July, 1249. After a
reign of upwards of thirty-six years, he died at Dunfermline,
29th March, 1286.
King Alexander III. used two separate types of Great Seal,
The first, which measures about three inches and three-quarters
in diameter, represents the sovereign riding on a horse turned to
the right. He is clad in the tunic of mail, covered with the
loose hauberk or surcoat then in use, and holds a drawn sword
in the right hand, while the left hand sustains the convex shield,
held up by a strap passing over the king's neck. The armorial
bearings of the shield appear to be a lion rampant within a
double tressure flory counterflory, which has been borne from
that time to the present as the Royal Arms of Scotland, with a
slight, and perhaps unimportant, variation to which notice will
be drawn presently. The caparisons with which the charger is
clothed bear the royal armorials above-mentioned, but reversed,
as is usually the case where heraldic bearings are represented on
horse furniture. On the other side of the seal the king's figure
is shown draped with a tunic and ermine-lined mantle, and a
broad and deeply-grooved sword. He is seated upon a throne
of elegant design, on the front of which are two small quatrefoiled
28 THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
panels or counter-sunk ornaments, each enclosing a leopard's or
lion's face. The legends or inscriptions which these two sides
bore are unfortunately wanting. An illustration of the seal is
given by Laing in his " Supplementary Catalogue," from which
a good general idea of the beauty of its design, made at a time
when the art of the seal-engraver was at its best, may be
gathered.
Alexander III.'s second Great Seal differs considerably from
those of his father and his own first type, and marks a distinct
era of progress in many ways. On the one side is shown the
king, riding on a galloping horse, turned to the right. His
attire consists of the hauberk of mail, the loose surcoat, the flat-
topped helmet with the grated vizor and fan-plume or panache.
In the right hand he holds a deeply-grooved broad sword. The
convex shield has its strap slung over the rider's neck ; on the
shield are visible the armorial bearings of a lion rampant within
a bordure, indistinct, perhaps standing in lieu of the double
tressure tlory countertlory, which are quite manifest on the
caparisons of the horse, which bears, in addition to its trappings,
a fan-plume on the head. In the left hand the king holds the
reins. The background is replenished with slipped trefoils, an
early form of diaper work which was so favourite a device after-
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
wards of the seal engravers and artists, to fill up blank spaces in
seals, pictures, coins, and other objects. This seal should be
compared by the student with the contemporary (jreat Seals of
Kings Henry III. and Edward I. of England, as described in
the British Museum Catalogue. Mr. A. Wyon draws attention
to the resemblance also. The coins of this monarch may also be
compared in some respect of design and treatment. The
slipped trefoil is difficult of explanation. It may be that the
triple lobe of leaflets alludes to the king being the third monarch
who bore the name of Alexander, but it is only a conjecture,
which I made in 1888 on the occasion of an exhibition of
Scottish Great Seals at Glasgow.* It has been shown by Mr.
Wyon that the Seal of Alexander III. is remarkable in another
respect. It is the first in which the horses wear a caparison.
That writer points out that at first the caparison round the hind-
quarters of the charger is continuous, and leaves no opening for
the tail. In subsequent seals, however, a small opening is made
in the cloth, through which the tail passes, and the tail itself
appears to be tightly wound round with a thread close to the
body of the animal.
Jotirn. Brit. Arch. Assoc, vol. xlv., p. 99, n.
if
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
The side of Majesty* shows the king upon his throne. He
wears the tunic and loose overdress, with broad sleeves dropping
somewhat lower than the elbow. His right hand grasps the
royal sceptre, foliated at the top and of considerable length. In
the left hand he holds the cord which confines the mantle to his
shoulders. The long hair and the moustache of the king are
clearly depicted. The carving of the throne lends itself to much
elaboration. The back, the rising sides, and the fronts are
ornamented with arcadings, crestings, and quatrefoiled and
trefoiled openings. It also has four upright standards, each
finished off at the top with a knob and a fleur-de-lis in flower.
The footboard carries a foot cushion, and rests on an arcaded
bracket or corbel. Under the king's feet are two small animals,
perhaps intended for wyverns or lizards, facing towards each
other, and each having its long tail terminated with a trefoil of
the background, which is here, as on the other side of the seal,
replenished with these heraldic symbols. The legend on each
side of this beautiful seal is the same —
ALEXANDER . DEO . RECTORE . REX . SCOTTORVM.
* Brit. Mils. Catal., p. 6.
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
The historical y^i-/^* of the period of Alexander III. and of his
immediate successors are of much interest. The king's reign
began on July 8th, 1249, and ended with his death, by a fall from
his horse, near Kinghorn, in Fifeshire, March 19th, 1285-6,
in obedience to the prophecy of Thomas the Rhymer, in Dunbar
Castle, uttered to Patrick, seventh Earl of Dunbar, the very day
preceding the tragic event.* The king's last son, Prince
Alexander, had predeceased him on January 28th, 1283-4. To
him succeeded, accordingly, Margaret, " The Maid of Norway,"
also called "The Damsel of Scotland," only child and heir of
Eric II., Magnusson, King of Norway, by his first wife,
Margaret, only daughter of King Alexander III. Her reign
commenced on March 19th, 1285-6, and ended with her death,
without marriage, in Orkney, in the presence of the Bishop
Narve and other notables, who had followed her from Norway on
her way to Scotland for her marriage to Edward of Caernarvon,
eldest son of King Edward I. of England, on or about Septem-
ber 26th, 1290. We know of no seal of this queen. To this
event succeeded the " First Interregnum," which arose by reason
of disputes as to who was heir to the Scottish crown. A con-
* Scotichronicon, ii. 131, 1.x. cap. 43 ; Miller, Hist, of Dunbar, 22, 23.
o~
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
ventlon to settle the heirship was held by King Edward I. with
the bishops, nobles, and people of the kingdoms of Scotland and
England, at Norham, on May loth, 1291, where the thirteen
claimants or competitors presented their claims personally or by
proxy, and eventually the king, as arbitrator, awarded the king-
dom to John Balliol, in the Hall of Berwick Castle, on Novem-
ber 17th, 1292. During this Interregnum a very beautiful seal
had been made and used, by appointment, " for the government
of the realm." On the one side of this we observe a figure of
St. Andrew, the Patron of the Realm, with nimbus and tunic,
fastened on the cross saltire, with which he is ever associated.
The background here also is formed by a regular series of
slipped trefoils or shamrocks, to which reference has already
been made. It may be that, notwithstanding all that has already
been remarked, this was the national plant or flower of Scotland,
brought from Ireland, before the adoption of the thistle, which
first appears on seals at a later date. The legend is a rhyming
hexameter verse of invocation —
ANDREA , SCOTIS . DVX . ESTO . COMPATRIOTIS.
The reverse side of this very interesting specimen of native
goldsmith's art of the thirteenth century brings before us a
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
OJ
shield of the Royal Arms of the realm, designed with ex(|uisite
skill and true heraldic feeling. The proportions of the shield
itself; its slightly convex curve, seen in the few impressions
which have withstood the ravages of upwards of six hundred
years ; the well-designed lion rampant, the principal charge,
with the tail incurved or bent inwards towards the neck of the
animal^ — a detail which belongs rightly to the Scottish lion, and
is found constantly recurrent from the day of the making of
this seal until the present time, with exceptions arising from
ignorance, carelessness, or indifference, on the part of those
who have taken upon themselves the task of reproducing the
arms ; the regular formation of the tlory additions to the double
tressure ; the semc^ of slipped trefoils symmetrically disposed
around the shield, and here representing, by symbolical imagery,
that the government was supported by the individual members
of the nation — all these several details go to make up one of the
most remarkable examples which the whole series of Royal
Seals of Scotland has to show to us. The legend indicates
the uses and application of the seal —
SIGILLUM . SCOCIE . DEPVTATVM . RKGIMIM . KEGNL
This first Interregnum, having endured for two years and
34 THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
nearly two months, ended by the accession of John Balliol
to the throne.
King John's reign was neither happy nor long. He was
crowned at Scone, November 30th, 1292, and it was probably
not long afterwards that he used the Great Seal which bears his
name. The British Museum possesses a fine specimen attached
to a charter without date (Cottonian Charter, v. 32), and there
is also a fine example preserved in the General Register House,
Edinburgh, attached to a deed dated in 1292. This shows the
king on a horse galloping, or springing, to the right. He wears
the hauberk and other details of mail armour, overlaid with
a loosely-Howing tunic. On his head is the crowned helmet
with grated vizor, three-quarters to the front ; and in the right
hand is a long, grooved sword, inclined towards the king's head.
His convex shield is charged with the Royal Arms of Scotland,
and is worn slung round his neck. The caparisons of the war-
horse are charged with corresponding armorials, but reversed.
It is remarkable that the hoofs of the horse were armoured with
spiked nails. Anderson, in the " Diplomata," gives a very good
representation of this seal. On the other side we see the king
as sovereign enthroned, with robes and apparatus not unlike the
details which are to be observed on the seals of Alexander HI.,
THE SEALS OK SCOTLAND. 35
his predecessor. Here the long sceptre terminates with very
copious foliation ; the left hand is laid on the royal breast, and
holds the cord or ribbon of the mantle. The crown is composed
of three leaves. The long hair of the king hangs down in curls
over the ears. The throne is elaborate, following the fashion
found on the Great Seals of England in this respect ; the
back, front, sides, and projecting dais, or foot-board, being
enriched with arcadings, quatrefoiled tabernacle work, saltires,
and four boldly-worked finials with crocketted carvings running
up the standards. A notable feature in this seal, here attendant
for the first time, is the introduction of a shield of arms on each
side of the throne, in the background. That on the right hand
bears an orle, for the family of Balliol ; that on the left hand
bears a lion rampant, perhaps with double tail, or, as it is termed
heraldically, queue fourchde. Mr. Wyon shows that although
the tinctures are not very clearly defined on the shield of Balliol,
which occupies the post of honour on the dexter side of the seal,
they are intended to represent a field gules charged with an orle
argent, as preserved in a window placed in the Chapter House
of York Minster in honour of Balliol's marriage with Isabel de
Warrenne, daughter of John de Warrenne, Earl of Surrey. It
is not clear to what the sinister shield refers. If it be intended
36 THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
for the Royal Arms of Scotland, it is (as far as can be made out
from the indistinct nature of the impression) a variant form of
the royal arms hitherto and afterwards in use. With more pro-
bability the arms may be referred to his wife's paternal coat. The
legend on each side is —
lOHANNES . DEI . GRACL\ . REX . SCOTTOKVM.
The batde of Dunbar, which was fought between the
r^nglish and Scots, and resulted in the defeat of the Scots
and capture of Dunbar Castle, April 27th, 1296, paved the
way for the king's abdication to King Edward I., by deed,
ratified at Brechin Castle, July loth, 1296, after a reign of
three years and nearly eight months. Of the subsequent
misfortunes of John Balliol we need take no account. On his
abdication, the King of England took the reins of government
into his own hands, and treated Scotland as a conquered
country, marching from Montrose against the unorganised
Scotch party, through Aberdeen, Banff, and Cullen, to Elgin
and Rothes, — the tide of war swaying, now this way, now
that. The stirring events relating to Wallace, Bruce, Comyn,
the two sieges of Stirling Casde, and other circumstances
attending this period, concern the historian more closely than
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 3/
the Student of seals, to whom it belongs, however, to record
the use of two very different seals. The first is that known
by only one very imperfect impression, preserved at Paris
among the Archives de L! Empire. It was issued by John Souly,
Ciistos Regni, and measured about three inches and a quarter in
diameter when perfect. Laing attributes this, notwithstanding
the date — February 23rd, 130 1-2 — of the deed to which it is
attached, to the national party in Scotland. Douet d' Arcq,
the learned writer on French collections of seals, attributes it
to the Regency. From its general similarity to French styles,
and its resemblance in some degree to the Great Seal of King
Philip III., it can scarcely be doubted that it was executed by
French goldsmiths, and in that respect it is, of course, connected
with John, who, while still an exile in that country, retained
the title of King of Scots. On the reverse of this unique
impression is the seal of Sir John de Soules, Knt., Gustos
Regni. The design is a figure of the king, be it John or
Edward, wearing royal robes, charged on the front with the
Royal Arms of Scotland. He is seated on a throne constructed
after the manner availing upon French Great Seals of the
period, with the long thin necks, heads, and legs of leonine
animals or dogs. In the right hand is a sword held obliquely
THE SEALS OE SCOTLAND.
outwards. The field or background is diapered lozengy and
enriched with a small quatrefoil flower in each mesh or space
formed by the intersecting lines. The legend is fragmentary —
DEI . GRACTA . REG.
Edward I., King of England, during the second Interregnum,
loth July, 1296, to 27th March, 1306, used a very beautiful
seal, which appears to have been made not long after the
beginning of this period. On the one side, the king appears
to have presented his effigy in a way not very unlike that given
in his Great Seal for England, but with a few variations. In
this, which appears to be of purely English art, the king sits
in majesty, enthroned, and vested in a very similar manner to
the design of the Great Seal for England. The orb with cross
is, however, here omitted, the small lions leaping up towards
the king at the sides of the throne are also removed, and some
of the details of the sceptre-top and carved work varied, but
enough is left to show the hand of the master-design.
The legend is — -
SIGILLVM . EDWARDI . DEI . GRACTA . REGIS .
ANGLIE . DNI . HIBERNTK.
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 39
The reverse, although it only consists of a shield of arms of
England, is remarkably beautiful for the absolute perfection of
its proportions. 1 1 is the despair of modern heraldic designers
whose work invariably falls short of the production of this
mediaeval period, where their work is not a copy from an ancient
original. This is shown by the heraldry we see and so often
shudder at on flags and shields which are displayed to mark
passing political or historical events. It was different in the
old times, when art was practised for its own sake. The
legend continues the sentence from the other side —
ET . DVCIS . AQUITANIE . AD . REGIMEN . REGNI . SCOCIE . DEPVTATV.M.
The accession of Robert Brus, Earl of Carrick, in Ayrshire,
to the throne as King of Scots, terminated the second Inter-
regnum. He was the eldest son of Robert Brus, Earl of Carrick
and Lord Annandale, by his first wife, Martha, who was
Countess of Carrick in her own right. Robert had been chosen
one of the guardians of the kingdom in council at Peebles in
1299, and became king at the age of thirty-one years. He was.
we are told by the historians, crowned with a golden coronet
which was set on his head by the Countess of Buchan, in the
presence, and with the assent, of four bishops, five earls, and the
40 THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
people of the country, at Scone, on March 27, 1306. This king
used two seals. The first, like that of preceding use, resembles,
on the side where the king sits in majesty, that of Edward I. of
England. In his right hand he holds a long sceptre fleur-de-lis
at the top, and in the left hand an orb with a long cross. The
king's feet rest on two long-tailed animals of uncertain form,
perhaps dragons or lizards.
ROIJERTVS . DEO . RECTORE . REX . SCOTTORVM.
• The carving of the throne shown in the seal indicates progress
in the art of the seal engraver. It is more elaborate and of
bolder design.
On the other side we are shown the figure of the king on
horseback, galloping to the right hand, with hauberk and
chausscs of mail, long and flowing surcoat, crown of three fleurs
or leaves on a grated helmet. The Royal Arms of Scotland are
on the shield and surcoat. In the one hand is a broad-sword,
partly grooved. The horse is adorned with a fleur-de-lis plume
on its head, and the caparisons charged with armorial bearings as
above. Here again the progress of art is manifested, and the
striking dash and rapid movement of the horse rushing to war is
admirably represented. The legend is a repetition of that
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 4 1
which is given on the other side.* There is an example
of this seal in the British Museum, attached to a document
dated in a.d. 13 i6. In 1326 we find Robert Bruce using a
seal of different design, and somewhat larger diameter. The
side where the king sits in majesty as a sovereign manifests
French influence, and here we see the king enthroned, and
clad with ample vestments. In his right hand he holds
a long sceptre of authority, with two knops on its stem,
and an elegantly foliated top. The left hand rests on his breast,
the first and second fingers extended, holding the cords on the
mantle, which just appears on the shoulders. The long curled
hair, the crown of three leaves or tieurs, the throne composed of
two long recurved necks and heads of dogs, or dragons, on each
side, are worthy of observation. Over the throne is thrown, in
ample folds, a cloth of state, diapered and ornamented with an
embroidered bordering. The footboard is supported on an
elegantly carved bracket, adorned with foliage and flowers.
The other side of this fine seal represents the king in his
* It is worthy of note that the stops employed in the legends of this seal are slipped trefoils,
and they point to a survival of the use of this emblem, whatever its signification may be, first
introduced by King Alexander IIL, to which the attention of the reader has already been
directed.
C
42 THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
military capacity. He is riding on a horse galloping to the
right, and wears a hauberk of mail and a short surcoat, on which
may be distinguished the Royal Arms of Scotland, a reversed
lion to the sinister, the proper manner of representing the royal
charge on this apparel. His broad-sword has a deep groove ;
the shield of arms, as described above, hangs from the neck, the
helmet is crowned. The caparisons of the horse are embroidered
with the roval arms. Each side of this seal bears the same
legend —
ROBERTVS . DEO . RECTORE . REX . SCOTTORV^L
According to one authority'" the matrix of this seal was made
in 1 318. Parts of the impression are rather indistinct. But
there is a second impression in the British Museum, showing
marks of the studs used in the matrix to fix the wax securely,
and in it the top part of the crown, and the top part of the
helmet, showing the flower of conventional design, which has the
appearance of a thistle, are clearly shown. This representation
of the thistle seems to be the earliest example of the national
flower as depicted on seals. It is worthy of notice as super-
seding the slipped trefoil which occurs on the first seal, in use a
* Vetusta Monumenta, vol. iii. p. 6.
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
few years previously, and then for the last time in the series.
The date of the document to which this latter impression is
attached is Berwick, 26 November, twenty-first year, i.e., 1326.
The king died at Cardross, in Dumbartonshire, on the 7th of
June, 1329, within a few days of completing the fifty-fifth year of
his age, after a reign of a little more than twenty-three years, and
was buried in the choir in front of the high altar of the Abbey
Church at Dunfermline. He was succeeded by David the
Second, his elder son by his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of
Richard de Burgo, or Burgh, second Earl of Ulster. Having
been born on 5th March, 1323-4, he was but an infant of a few
years of age when he succeeded to the throne ; and during his
extended period of rule — nearly forty-two years — he used only
one Great Seal. This bears on the side of majesty a
representation of David as a king enthroned. The design is
not unlike that of his father's seal, which has been already
described as indicating French influence. The king's feet are
placed on two wyverns or heraldic lizards addorsed, that is, back
to back, with their tails nowed or knotted together. The long
necks of the nondescript animals, two at each side of the throne
or fald-stool, are very curious, and the heads are looking upwards.
In the field, on the left of the king's head, is the royal initial
44 THE SEALS OK SCOTLAND.
letter D, exactly underneath the same letter which begins the
legend —
DAVID . DEI . GRACIA . REX . SCOTTORV>L
Laing describes a specimen of this seal among the Melrose
Charters.
The equestrian side of the king's Great Seal shows the pro-
gress which the seal-engraver was making in the art at the
beginning of the fourteenth century. Here the king is on a
horse galloping to the right, not unlike the design of the seal of
the previous king ; the helmet is full-face ; the surcoat, with the
lion of the royal arms, is turned to the dexter, as in the shield ;
on the right shoulder is a rectangular ailette, charged with the
Royal Arms of Scotland reversed. The geno2tiI/icres, or knee-
pieces, are indistinct. The legend is the same as that on the
other side, but without the additional D in the field.
We have already shewn that the king only used one seal :
impressions of it are extant, attached to documents dated in 1359,
after the king had reigned thirty years. There is, however, a
smaller seal, chipped and imperfect, believed to be deposited in
the Public Record Office, a cast of which is in the possession of the
British Museum, Laing, in a manuscript belonging to the same
THE SEALS Ol" SCOTLAND. 45
institution, shows that it is a forgery by the well-known John
Harding. It has also been thought that it may be a seal of one
of the Royal Burghs, and may be compared with that of Had-
dington. On the one side we observe a figure of the king
enthroned, with mantle, cape or tippet, crown, and sceptre
terminating in a foliated ornament of three leaves. The throne
consists of carved tabernacle work, with four standards or foliated
finials. The footboard rests on a corbel, but has no cushion.
In the field at each side of the throne is a tree, or branch of thin
foliage. The workmanship is very inferior and coarsely cut.
On the reverse is contained a shield of the Royal Arms of Scot-
land, on a diapered or hatched background. A cusped panel of
ten points includes the whole design. Each side bears the same
legend —
SIGILLVM . DAVID . DEI . GRACIA . KEtllS . SCOTTOR.
This seal is unworthy of a place in the series of Royal Seals
of Scotland, but it must be mentioned here because of the
prominence which some have given to it as of regal use.
The king died in Edinburgh Castle on the 22nd Eebruary,
1 3 70- 1, and, leaving no issue, was succeeded by Robert the
Second, a Stewart, or High Steward, the first king of the
46 THE SEALS OF SCOTLVND.
1 )ynasty of Stewart or Stuart, which was destined to rule the
fortunes, or misfortunes, of the kingdom for three hundred years.
He was the only son of Walter, the sixth High Steward of
Scotland, by his first wife, Margeria, or Marjorie Brus, the only
child of the first marriage of Robert I. Brus, King of Scots. He
was born on 2nd March, 1315-16, and, therefore, at his accession
in February, 1370-1, was well advanced in years. Before pro-
ceeding to describe the seal of this king we must take cognisarice
of Edward Balliol, who had been crowned King of the Scots by
the English and his own adherents, at Scone, on the 24th
September, 1332.
Edward's Seal marks another epoch in the art. He discards
the French proclivities of David, and reverts to more English
styles ; and although it cannot be said that the seal is so well
designed as those of his contemporary. King PMward HI. of
England, still there is some approach towards the feeling which
the seals of that king possess.
On the side of Majesty is shown a figure of the king
enthroned, with long curled hair, crowned, and draped in a
loose vestment girt at the waist ; his mantle is fastened on the
breast with a brooch ; in the right hand he holds a sceptre with
foliated summit ; in the other he holds an orb, without cross,
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 47
on the cushion, which is small. The throne consists of carved
tabernacle work, adorned with crocketted pinnacles, the two
nearest to the head of the king having a dove perched on
top, facing one another. The footboard is on a carved corbel,
ornamented with roses. In the field on each side we obser<^e
a small shield of arms ; that on the dexter a lion rampant, for
Scodand ; that on the sinister an orle, for Balliol. Edward in
this respect reverses the position of the shields as given in the
seal of John Balliol, his predecessor. On the baronial or
equestrian side of the Great Seal is shown the king riding on
a horse galloping to the right. His hauberk is of mail ; his
surcoat short, charged with the Royal Arms of Scotland ; he
is crowned, and his helmet is furnished with a grated vizor ;
in the right hand is a broad-sword with channelled blade,
fastened by a chain from the king's shoulder to the handle.
The shield of the royal arms is in the left hand. The horse's
trappings are embroidered with the royal arms, with the
charges reversed. The fan-plume should be noticed for its
early appearance on the Royal Seals of Scotland.
There is a fine impression, unfortunately not quite perfect,
of this rare seal preserved in the Chapter House of Westminster.
The period of its use cannot have been very long, for Edward
48 rili: SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
fled from Annan, in Dumfriesshire, with "one leg booted and
the other naked," within three months after his coronation, and
took refuge in England on the i6th December, 1332. He
died, without issue, in 1363, but appears to have dropped out of
history after his hasty flight from the kingdom.
We may now resume the main stream of the royal succession,
in examining the Seal of Robert II., of which there is a fine
impression preserved among the Melrose Charters. The obverse
of this beautiful work resembles in many respects that of the
sixth Great Seal of Edward III. of England. The king here
sits enthroned, with crown fleury of five leaves ; his sceptre is
furnished with a foliated top, and the left hand of the king is
placed upon his breast. Above is placed a richly-carved triple
gothic canopy ; the central part is enriched with a hexagonal
turret, embattled. Each of the side canopies is finished with a
crocketted pinnacle. At each side is a niche or screen of
tabernacle work on a bracket of tracery, containing an arch
of five cusps, in which is placed an eagle or falcon rising with
open wings, designed so as to show in full face, foreshortened,
and somewhat difficult to distinguish at first sight, so much so
that these birds, so skeleton-like in their appearance, have been
mistaken by some writers on seals for grotesque animals or
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 49
figures. The bird supports before it a shield of the Royal
Arms of Scotland. Over the embattled cresting of the screen
on each side is a watchman, or man-at-arms, in armour,
cap-a-pie, leaning forward. In base, below the support of the
footboard, is the representation of a cloud, hills, or rocks,
resembling, in turn, the reverse of the sixth seal of his
contemporary, Edward III. of England. Here we have an
effigy of the king, in his military or baronial character, riding
a warhorse galloping to the right. His hauberk, or coat of mail,
has the short sleeve of the period ; above it is xh^jttpon, or short
surcoat of thin linen material, embroidered heraldically with the
Royal Arms of Scotland. The equipment comprehends also the
vambrace and gauntlet of plate armour, and the crested helmet,
bearing a lion statant guardant with long queue extended in a
wavy form. This crest differs somewhat from the lion of later
date for a crest, which is seen in seals about to be described, as
being sejant affrontc^. Slung to the king's neck by a strap or
enarme is the shield of the Royal Arms of Scotland. In his
right hand he holds a long sword, turned obliquely towards his
head. The charger is springing or galloping, on wavy,
undulating ground, to the right. Its caparisons are charged
with the same royal armorials which are seen borne by the king
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
himself, but reversed, as is the right, and usual, manner of
depicting heraldry on horse-trappings. T\\^ poytrail, or breast-
leather of the horse's gear, is ornamented with roundles. The
legend is similar on each side. It reads —
ROISERTVS . DEI . GRACL\ . REX . SCOTTORV^L
This seal is of elegant conception, and contrasts well with royal
seals of England and other kingdoms of contemporary date.
Robert the Second died at the Castle of Dundonald, in Ayr-
shire, on the 19th April, 1390, at the age of seventy-four years
and nearly two months. He was buried before the high altar in
the Abbey at Scone on the 13th August in the same year, after a
reign of upwards of nineteen years, and was succeeded by his
eldest son, Robert III., Earl of Carrick, by his first wife,
Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Adam Mure of Rowallan, whose age
was about fifty-three years at the time of his accession. He was
styled Robert HI., instead of John, his baptismal name, with
consent of the Estates of the Realm, on and after the 14th
August, 1390, the day following the funeral obsequies of his
father. His death occurred, when he was about sixty-nine years
of age, at Dundonald, on the 4th April, 1406, and he was buried
in front of the high altar in the Abbey Church at Paisley, after
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
reigning for nearly sixteen years. His Great Seal generally
resembles that of his father, the previous monarch, but with
certain additions, for the purpose of distinguishing the seals from
each other, to avoid confusion in documents where the numeral
after the king's name was not inserted. The principal point of
difference is that the background of Robert III.'s seal is
replenished with wavy branches of the vine, elegantly designed
in a bold, freehand style of drawing, with foliage and tendrils.
Over the king's crest on his helmet is placed a small mullet, or
star of five points, pierced with a circular opening. The legend
is not absolutely ascertained, because the best known example —
attached to a document preserved among the Melrose Charters
— is very imperfect at the edge, but from what remains it
would seem to have resembled that employed on the Great
Seal of Robert II.
Mr. Wyon remarks, on the occurrence of the field of Robert
III.'s seal being ornamented with this flowing floral device, that
it is after the Italian style of seal engraving, which is a peculiarity
not found in the Great Seals of England, nor in those of Scotland
at any earlier period. That writer thinks there can be little
doubt that its presence here must be attributed to two Florentine
engravers, Moulakyn or Malekyn, and Bonagius, who are
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
recorded to have worked In the Scottish Mint about 1364, and
were at work here in 1377, and possibly longer. After they left
the Mint they may very likely have remained resident in Scot-
land, and perhaps have left pupils or imitators after them.
As in the case of King David II., so here also, a smaller seal
is extant of Robert III., casts of which are in the British
Museum, where it,is recorded that the original is a fine impression
formerly preserved in the Chapter House, Westminster. The
diameter of this is three inches. The design on the obverse
resembles in a general way that of the uncertain seal of David
II., but the nondescript animals or lizards beneath the king's
feet are omitted, the sceptre is fleury at the top, the left hand
is on the breast, and the corbel in base is ornamented with a
kind of lozengy pattern. The design is enclosed within a
panel of seven cusps not very regularly formed. The reverse
shows the king galloping on a horse to the right, upon a ground
covered with herbage. The armour is of plate. He wears the
crown, and holds sword and shield of the royal arms. But the
caparisons of the horse are without the armorials. The enclosing
frame or panel on this side is of nine cusps irregularly made.
The legend on each side is —
SIGILLVM . ROBERTI . DEI . GRACLV . REGLS . SCOTTOR.
..:'.^^^-._
^^fi^^
»M
^^
CHAPTER II.
The Fifteenth Century: — Murdach Stuart — James I. to
James \\
WE now come to the fifteenth century Royal Seals of the
Jameses. The first of this name was the third and only
surviving son of King Robert III., by Annabella,
daughter of Sir James Drummond of Stobhall. He was born at
Dunfermline in December, i 394, and during the lifetime of his
father was styled The Steward of Scotland, and the T^arl of
Carrick. At the time of his accession to the throne of Scotland
he was but eleven years and three months old, a captive in the
Tower of London, and in the power of King Henry I\'. of
Eno-land. His release was not carried out until the lapse of
eighteen years, when, on giving hostages for the payment of
forty thousand pounds, alleged to have been expended on his
maintenance, he was liberated in April, 1424, and was crown^^d
54
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
at Scone on the 21st of May in that year. The seal used by
this monarch is principally known from an imperfect and indistinct
impression preserved among the charters of Lord Panmure,
attached to a deed of 1436. The obverse resembles that of
Kings Robert II. and Robert III., being closely like that of the
latter, but with some few variations of detail. The crown is
somewhat larger, the dress of the left arm of the king is fuller,
the sceptre is fleur-de-lize, and on each side of the king's feet,
within the niche, is a small lion sejant affronted In the back-
ground of the seal, over the crocketted spire or pinnacle on the
left hand side, just beneath the letter c of the v^ord Jacobus, is a
small mullet, probably for a cadency-mark. The reverse
resembles the reverse of the Great Seal of King Robert III,, but
there are several departures from strict imitation, chiefly in the
position given to the shield of arms, the king's left hand holding
the reins, and the foliage and other little ornamentations of the
background being differently treated.
The legend, when perfect, appears to have been —
JACOBVS . DEI . GRACLA . REX . SCOTTORV>L
The period of absence from the kingdom during his imprison-
ment gave opportunity for the employment of a very remarkable
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 55
seal by Robert Stuart or Stewart, first Duke of Albany, and
Murdach Stuart, eldest son of Robert, the Regent of
Scotland, second Duke of Albany, Regent of Scodand, Earl of
Lennox, and Justiciary of Scotland " benorth the Forth."
Robert, Duke of Albany, had been appointed Governor of the
kingdom by ordinance of the Council assembled at Perth in
June, 1406 ; after his death Murdach assumed the position of
Governor of the realm, in September, 1420. His period of
power was but brief. His eldest surviving son. Sir Walter
Stewart, was beheaded, for treason, in front of Stirling Castle on
the 24th May, 1425, and on the following day Murdach, the late
Governor, with his son, Sir Alexander Stuart, and Duncan, Earl
of Lennox, were decapitated on the same spot, 25th May, 1425.
One of the best notices of this personage is that given by
Sir William Eraser, in his work on The Dukes of Albany and
their Castle of Dounc, Edinburgh, 1881. From it we gather
many obscure points in Murdach's remarkable career. Owing
to the long life of his father, the first Duke, Murdach did not
succeed to any of the Earldoms until he had attained the some-
what advanced age of fifty-eight, and then enjoyed them for only
a few years before the headsman's axe parted him from them for
ever. He was appointed to the honourable office of Justiciar
THE SKALS OF SCOTLAND.
north of the Forth by the ParHament at Holyrood, 2ncl April,
1389. On 1 6th July, 1390, King Robert III. appointed him to
be one of the conservators of a truce between England and
Scotland, who were to watch over the maintenance of its
provisions. His career, prosperous as it had shortly afterwards
become, was, however, checked by his capture at Homildon on
14th September, 1402, when the Earl of Douglas was defeated
by Percy, and he himself, with many other Scottish nobles,
taken prisoner.
His liberation was unable to be procured until after much
negotiation, in 141 5, upon a ransom of ten thousand pounds.
On the way to the north, in care of two guardians appointed by
the King of England, he made his escape, but was recaptured,
and probably placed in one of the castles in the north of
England, under the charge of the Earl of Westmoreland, until
the resumption of the negotiations in the close of the year,
which brought the matter to a successful conclusion by the
restoration of Henry Percy by way of exchange. On his return
to Scotland, Sir Murdach Stewart assisted his father, now
upwards of seventy years old, in the government of the country.
On the death of the Duke he succeeded to the office of
Governor of Scotland. "It has been said that he assumed this
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 57
office as if to carry on the alleged usurpation of the Government
by his father ; but there is no ground for the assertion, and the
evidence is all the other way. It is far more probable that he
was placed in it by the Parliament." His government appears
to date from about i6th November, and not before 26th
October, 1420. With his proceedings as Governor we are not
concerned here ; the King's tyranny appears to have moved
the Duke's family against his royal rule, and this culminated
in the execution of Murdach's eldest surviving son, Walter
Stewart, being tried and executed at Stirling before the King in
May, 1425, followed by the similar treatment of Duke Murdach,
his son, Sir Alexander, and the aged Earl of Lennox. " They
shared the same fate, and with like haste ; and to add to the
ghastly spectacle, on the same day five of those who had been
with James Stewart, another of Murdach's sons, at the burning
of Dumbarton, who had been taken and brought before the
King on the 8th May, were drawn asunder by horses, and their
bodies suspended on gibbets." The scene of their execution
was an eminence to the north of the Castle, called the Gowling-
hill, or Heading-hill, as it was afterwards called from this
sanguinary scene. The event itself was one which drew from
those who witnessed it expressions of deep regret and
D
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
compassion. Duke Murdach and his two sons were men of
gigantic stature.
Fraser, in the work already mentioned, discusses at length the
probable reasons for these executions ; Sir Walters crime being
probably that de roborea or spoliation of crown lands, but no record
has been preserved of the crimes of which they were accused.
Other reasons have been alleged, but the king evidently sought
to annihilate the house of Albany, and cared little for putting
forward any reason for this policy. A fine illustration of the
Great Seal of Robert, Duke of Albany, as Governor of
Scotland, is given by Fraser, as well as a woodcut of the
Armorial Seal of the Duke as Earl of Fife and Menteith.
The Great Seal resembles that of King James I., but
with some slight variations and omissions, and bears the
legend —
SIC.ILLVM . ROHERTI . DVCIS . ALBANIE . GVBERNATORIS . SCOCIE
Xo description of it is given in Fraser, and no mention is
made of Murdach's very similar seal.
Murdach had used during his regency a seal which is known
from a very imperfect impression in white wax appended to a
deed dated 1423, preserved in the Public Record Office. This
THE SEALS OE SCOTLAND. 59
is an imitation of the Seal of James I., King of Scots. The
heraldic display on it is of much interest. Unfortunately the
shield of arms in the niche on the dexter side has been broken
away, but that on the sinister side remains. The shield is
quarterly, 1.4. the Royal Arms of Scodand ; 2.3. a fess chequy
and label of three points for Stuart. The sceptre in the hand of
James I. is here exchanged for a sword. The reverse is similar
to that of the Great Seal of King James I., which has been
already described. The legend is wanting. It would almost
seem to have been purposely broken off.
Mr. Wyon observes that the charters which were issued
during the rule of Murdach, when the estates belonging to the
Crown were freely bestowed upon the partisans of the regents,
did not run in the king's name, as was the custom during other
regencies, but solely in the regent's name ; and the seals
appended to those deeds, although at first sight apparently
similar to the Great Seals of recent Scottish kings, bore no
effigy of, or reference to, the lawful king, but bore, on the other
hand, the name, arms, and effigy of the regent. We see in
this a determined attempt to supersede the king, and {)ave the
way for the regent's assumption of full regal power and dignitv, .
and do not wonder that throughout the whole of this j^eriod
6o THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
the kingdom was full of strife and contlict, Murdach's seal,
which is here reproduced, may be compared with the Great
Seal of James I., and its differences noted. Its employment,
no doubt, formed a powerful cause of the train of events which
culminated in his downfall and death.
The seal of James I., as we are told by the same writer,
is remarkable for the fact that it was in use for a longer period
than any other Great Seal ever was in this country. It was
made for James I. about 14 14, and used by his four immediate
successors of the same name as late as July, 1540, by James \'.
Thus it can be shown to have been in use for upwards of one
hundred and twenty-five years, and this outvies the long period
of use of the celebrated English seal known as the Bretigny
Seal, which was employed for a hundred and eleven years.
James II. became King on the death of his father, 21st
February, 1436-7, and met his death by the bursting of a
cannon at the siege of Roxburgh, 3rd August, 1460, after a
reign of nearly thirty years. During the whole period of this
monarch's reign the seal of James I. was used, a difference
being introduced by the addition of two small annulets between
the feet of the kinof and the lions, and a similar number in the
background above the crocketted pinnacles at the sides of the
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 6 1
king's canopy. The reverse side has also been augmented
with the addition of four other annulets, one above and one
beneath the neck of the horse, and two on the caparison of the
hinder part of the horse, below the lion of the royal arms, and
a small crown. By the use of these small differential emblems,
the coinage of Scotland, which was in a very difficult
and inaccurate condition of arrangement by numismatists,
has been recently satisfactorily settled. The legend of a good
impression of the Great Seal of James II., appended to a
document bearing date of 1441, preserved among the Morton
Charters, reads as follows on each side —
LVCOBUS . DEI . GRACTA . REX . SCOTTORV^L
The British Museum possesses a fragmentary impression
attached to a deed of one year later, 1442, containing only the
bust of the king on the one side, and part of the body of the
horse on the other side, which has been conjectured to be an
impression of the so-called " Ouarter-Seal."
King James III. began his reign over Scotland on the 3rd
of August, 1460, and, after a reign of nearly twenty-eight years,
was murdered, after losing the battle of Sauchieburn (which was
fought between the king's forces and the confederated lords, who
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
had been plotting against him, conducting these proceedings in
the name of James, Duke of Rothesay, heir-apparent to the
throne, whose person they had secured), in a cottage at Alilton,
near Bannockburn, in StirHngshire, on the i ith of June, 1488,
at the early age of not quite thirty-seven years. He lies buried
near his queen, Margaret, daughter of Christiern I., King of
Denmark, in the royal Abbey of Cambuskenneth, co. Stirling,
where he was laid to rest on the 25th of June following the
tragedy of the previous fortnight. His Great Seal is known by
a few examples only. There are two in the British Museum
collection, attached to original documents. The first, dated
1475, is light brown or uncoloured, and very indistinct, but it
bears impressions or marks of the pins and studs of the matrix.
The matrix is the same as that of his father, James H., with the
addition of a small mullet added over the pinnacle which stands
on the right side of the right hand annulet. The legend does
not appear to have been altered, nor was it necessary that any
alteration should be made. The reverse, also, is from the same
matrix as that used by his father, with the further addition of a
small fleur-de-lis set below the fetlock of the right foreleg of the
charger, and with the same legend as described for the previous
seal. The second original impression preserved in our national
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 63
archives at the British Museum — archives which contain a vast
number of unpublished* documents relating to Scotland of the
highest political and social importance — is appended to a deed
dated in 1478, very imperfect and indistinct. Laing records a
good impression belonging to Sir William Gordon Gumming
Gordon, of Altyre and Gordonstoun, Bart. This specimen
possesses the little differential additions set to distinguish the
son's seal from the father's and grandfather's, very clearly
shown.
On the murder of James III., his eldest son, James, born 17th
March, 1472-3, succeeded to the throne, aged a little above
fifteen years. He had been present with the rebel lords against
his father at the fatal battle of Sauchieburn, iith June, 1488,
and was crowned as James IV. at Scone on or about 26th June
in the same year. Among the many interesting events in his
reign may be remembered the arrival at Stirling, on 20th
November, 1495, of the impostor, Perkin Warbeck, who asserted
that he was Richard, Duke of York. This personage married,
* A calendar of all the documents relating to Scotland, up to the time of his decease, was
prepared for the late Marquess of Bute with a view to publication. We may hope that this will
some day be brought to a useful issue, and thus supply a valuable help to illustrate many an
obscure event in the history of the northern kingdom.
64 THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
in January of the following year, the Lady Catherine Gordon,
called, for her beauty, "The White Rose," and accompanied the
Scottish king in an invasion of England on the 19th September,
1496. The king fell, slain, on the field of Flodden, in
Northumberland, on the 9th September, 15 13, at an age a little
over forty years, after a restless rule of twenty-five years. The
place of his burial has not been with absolute certainty identified,
but it is supposed that he lies in the Monastery of Sheen, near
Richmond, in Surrey. Two impressions of the seal of this king
are known. The first is appended to a document dated 1495, in
the British Museum. Its colour is creamy-white, and is partly
opaque, and, though fairly good, is indistinct in some of its parts.
This, too, shows the marks made by the pins or lugs of the
matrix. 7 he obverse of the impression appears to bear the
same design as that of his father's, at least, if there be any added
marks they have escaped notice ; but on the reverse the annulet
beneath the neck of the king's horse has apparently been altered
into a slipped trefoil leaf or knot of three loops. The legend
remains the same as heretofore. There is also the second, a
good impression, among the Morton Charters, appended to a
deed dated i 506.
This king used a so-called "Quarter Seal," of which there
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 65
is an imperfect and indistinct impression still preserved in H.M.
Record Office. The design appears to be constructed from the
upper half parts of a seal copied from the Great Seal described
above, poorly executed and in many parts wrongly cut. The
annulets and other marks of difference, which enable us to
attribute the seal to the proper king who used it, are, however,
omitted.
James W. was succeeded by his third son, borne to him by
his wife, Margaret Tudor, the daughter of Henry VII., and
sister of Henry VHI. of England, at Linlithgow, loth April,
15 12, He was but one year and four months of age when he
ascended the throne, being crowned at Stirling in September,
1 5 13. After a period of upwards of twenty-nine years' rule,
he died at Falkland on the 14th December, 1542.''^ This king
used two seals during his reign. The first is appended to a
deed of the year 1523, preserved in the British Museum
collections. The design is apparently similar to that of the
previous seal of King James IV., but it is not improbable that
this very imperfect specimen contained some marks of difference
which had been added into parts now wanting. The type
* Some historians, tabulated by Sir Archibald Dunbar, give a somewhat diflerent date of
the death.
66 THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
appears to have escaped the notice of Laing and others. The
king's second seal is known from a fine impression — with the
edge unfortunately chipped — preserved in the Chapter House,
Westminster. The diameter is four inches. Its design is a
poorly-executed copy of the first seal, with omission of the
lions set near the legs of the king, and of the annulets, which
we have noticed as having been inserted by former sovereigns.
The crown is smaller, and the king's body is badly shaped.
The details of clouds and hills which fill up the base or fore-
ground of the seal are replenished with slipped trefoils, and
there are other insignificant changes of detail. The legend is —
lACOBVS . DEI . GRACLV . REX . SCOTORVM.
The reverse, also, omits the small difference-marks of crown,
annulets, fleur-de-lis, and trefoil. The crest is enlarged, and
the foliage which spreads over the background or field of the
seal is here converted from quatrefoils into trefoils — the trefoil
evidently having a peculiar interest for the Scotch seal-
engravers from an early period, as we have observed in treating
of the seal of the Interregnum. The legend here is similar to
that on the obverse. It is curious to notice that an impression
of this seal of King James V., which was only used for a few
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
6;
months, has been attached to a document attributed to James I.,
now preserved in H.M. Record Office, dated at Melrose, 3rd
of April, 1424. How this has been affected one is at a loss to
conjecture.
CHAPTER III.
The Renaissan'ce — Mary, Queen of Scots, and Her
Successors.
THE death of King James V. without a male heir
brings us to one of the most momentous and important
passages in the history of the kings of Scotland. Mary-
Stewart, the only surviving child of the king by his second wife,
Mary of Lorraine, daughter of Claude I. de Guise de Lorraine,
Due d' Aumale, and widow of Louis H. of Orleans, Due de
Longueville, was his sole heir. She was born at Linlithgow,
in December, 1 542, and but seven days old when the death of
her father elevated her to the royal dignity. This is not the
place to discuss the political events of her life, which are known
all the world over, and to none so well as to the Scotch
themselves, to whom she is a cardinal point and guiding star
in their memories and regrets. The queen used several seals
during her reign, which lasted for upwards of twenty-four years.
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 69
One seal, probably the first, is of great interest, because it
introduces a new fashion in design. The Gothic style is aban-
doned, making way for that known as the Italian or Renaissance
style. In this we see the queen, attired in a mantle, and
wearing a crown ; holding the sceptre fleur-de-lize ; and seated on
a throne enriched with carving and elaborate ornamentation
after the method of the then new fashion which had just sup-
planted the Gothic viodus. This throne is furnished with a
projecting dais, or footboard, and there are two ornamental
columns in front supporting a kind of canopy or tester over the
queen's head. The legend, seen on a fine example in pos-
session of Cosmo Innes, when Laing noticed it, is —
MARIA . DEI . GRACIA . REGINA . SCOTORV.
It follows the fashion of size if not of design, having a diameter
of four inches. The reverse of this interesting relic bears a shield
of Royal Arms of Scotland encircled, as to the lower half, with
the collar of the Order of the Thisde ; over the shield is the
crown of three fleurs-de-lis, with other details. The supporters
are two unicorns segreant, each gorged with a coronet, chained,
the tail flory, holding a lance-flag charged with the saltire cross
70
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
raguly of Scotland, enfiled with a crown (that on the dexter flag
uncertain). In base, on the mount, with herbage, on which the
supporters are standing, is a St Andrew's Cross, raguly, of which
only the lower half is shown, the rest passing behind the shield.
From this mount spring two thisde-tiowers, leaved, passing to the
ricrht and left below the collar. In the background on each side
is another thistle-flower, slipped and leaved, ensigned with a
crown. The words of the legend, which is preceded with a
crowned thistle, are —
SALVVM . FAC . POPVLVM . TVVM . DOMINE,
taken from Psalm xxvii. verse 9. Anderson, in engraving this
seal on his plate Ixxxviii., has been negligent of accuracy in
several points of detail.
The second Seal of the Queen is of French character.
There is a chipped and indistinct impression of this type among
the Morton Charters, attached to a document bearing date in the
year 1554. On the obverse is shown the sovereign enthroned
in majesty, wearing a long mantle ; a sceptre in each hand. The
form of the throne is worthy of examination. It is shaped like a
lyre, with carved scroll-top ends. Behind is a canopy with a
valance cut in scollops and a long curtain caught up in a festoon
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
at each side, the dimensions of which are so ample as to fill up
the background of the seal. The legend reads —
MARIA . DEI . GRACIA . REGIXA . SCOTORVNL
The reverse, like that of the Royal Seals of France at the time,
is of much smaller dimensions, measuring only one inch and
three quarters. The design which it bears is the shield of the
Royal Arms of her Kingdom of Scodand, ensigned, that is,
topped or surmounted, with an open arched crown of two trefoil
leaves between three small crosses and two half fleurs-de-lis at
the sides, six bands in all meeting in the centre at the top. At
each side of the design is a wavy scroll of elegantly-drawn
foliage. There is no legend on this side. It is remarkable
that Laing, in describing this seal, read Rex instead of Regina
in the legend. Can it be that there was a seal bearing Rex
which was withdrawn when the error was observed, but not
before some impressions had been issued ? The queen's third
seal is that which she employed for Scottish matters after her
marriage with Francis II. of Prance, to whom, while Dauphin,
she had been married in the Cathedral of \otre Dame, in Paris,
on the 24th of April, i55cS. P^rancis was the son of King
Henri II., by his wife, Oueen Catherine de Medici. After the
72 THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
death of Mary I., Queen of England, daughter of Henry VIII.,
Mary, the Queen of Scots, and her husband styled themselves
" F'rancis and Mary, by the grace of God, of Scotland, England,
and Ireland, King and Queen," at Paris, on the i6th January,
1558-9. This use of the style of Queen of England gave, as
may naturally be expected, great offence to Queen Elizabeth,
and it is not improbable that it operated very strongly among
the many causes which led to the downfall and death of the
Scottish queen. There is a good but somewhat indistinct
impression of this third seal attached to a document preserved in
the British Museum, with date of 156 1-2. Its diameter is about
four inches and a quarter. On the obverse is depicted a design
somewhat resembling that shown on the obverse of the second
seal. The queen's head turns slightly to the left. The dress is
ornamented with broderie, the sceptres are longer, that in the
right hand being fleur-de-lize, and that in the left hand bears on its
top the hand of justice, a not unusual finial of royal sceptres, and
found at a much earlier period than that of Queen Mary. The
throne is of the bench pattern, with carved ends. The canopy
overhead has a knob or bunching at the top, and the legend is —
MAKL-\ . DKI . GRATL\ . SCOTORVM . RECIINA.
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. J T,
For the 7noti/ of the reverse recourse was had again to French
styles. It is small, with a diameter of about two inches. It bears
a shield of arms per pale, dexter, Modern France, i.e., three
fleurs-de-lis two and one, dimidiated with the Royal Arms of
Scotland. It is ensigned with a crown composed of three
fleurs-de-lis with two crosses pattees with pearls at the ends of
top and arms, and having four bands meeting at the summit in a
jewel. There is no legend, but the border is carved. This seal
appears to have eluded the attention of Anderson and of Laing.
Wyon calls it the fourth seal, but the reason is that this writer
takes into consideration as the queen's third seal that which is really
her seal as Queen of France, and therefore not strictly belonging
to the series of seals of Scottish sovereigns. We may, however,
digress for a moment to pass it in review as bearing on the
history of the Queen. Mary had become Queen of France on
the accession of her consort, Francis II., on the death of his
father, Henri II., which took place on the loth of July, 1559.
"Here the youthful sovereigns," writes Mr. Wyon, "sit on
one seat, each holding two sceptres. Both are crowned and
clothed in robes of state. Francis wears a collar and badge of
some Order, which M. Luce, Chief of the Historical Section of
the Archives Nationales, thinks may represent the Order of St.
E
74 TlIE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
Michael, an Order which in those days was highly esteemed,
though subsequently it fell into disrepute. The legend on this
seal is more remarkable for its assumption of titles. The
sovereigns were not content with calling themselves King
and Queen of the French and of the Scots, which they were
in fact, but added England and Ireland to their titles, which
belonged to them only by a fiction of the imagination." The
queen became a widow, and Dowager Queen of France, on
the death of King Francis at Orleans on the 5th December,
1560, without issue. There is a seal of Francis II. and Mary
bearing the legend — " R . R . Scotorum . Delph . Delphi . Vien . "
— which was used during the period between the marriage,
when Francis was styled the " Dauphin King," in 1558, and his
accession to the French throne in 1559, but this, also, belongs
to the series of French, and not of Scottish, seals of sovereigns.
The queen's fourth seal is that which she employed as
Dowager after the death of Francis. Two impressions of it
are extant. That in the British Museum, which is appended to
a document dated 1564-5, is in uncoloured and partly opaque
wax, and the left side is wanting. It measured when perfect
nearly four inches and a half. The second is a good impression
among the Morton Charters, attached to a deed of the date of
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 75
1 564. The obverse is a copy of, but slightly larger than, the design
of the third seal. The sceptre, with the hand of justice, held in
the right hand of the sovereign, is not so long ; that in the left
hand is topped with a fleur-de-lis. Sprigs of trefoiled leaves
are introduced in some places, and the valance of the throne's
drapery is enriched with heads of cherubs. The legend is —
MARL\ . DEI . GRATL\ . REGINA . SCOTORVM . DOTARIA .
FRANCIE.
The reverse of this rare seal bears an ornamental shield of
the arms of the two kingdoms impaled, viz., of France (modern,
i.e., three fleurs-de-lis only) and Scotland, dimidiated. The
crown is placed over it. There is the collar of S.S. and thistles,
for that of the Order of the Thistle, and its pendant badge.
The supporters are two unicorns, segreant, ducally gorged, and
chained, each one holding a long lance set in a rest on the
mount or ground below the shield, with a flag to each lance,
charged with the saltire cross for St. Andrew, the national
saint, enfiled with a crown. Here again, wavy sprigs of foliage,
elegantly drawn, fill up the background with a pleasing
arabesque effect. The legend here reproduces a favourite
76 THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND,
motto, often employed by Scottish sovereigns on their coinage
as well as on their seals—
SALVV.M , lAC . rOPVL\"M . TVV.M . DOMINE.
This seal probably owes its design to a French artist.
The study of the Great Seals of the monarchy of Scotland
brings the reader now, at length, to the examination of the
seals of the last ruler of the country as a separate and indepen-
dent kingdom. James \ I., the only son of the unfortunate
Oueen, by her second husband, Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley,
was born in Edinburgh Castle on the 19th June, 1566, and
christened at Stirling on the 17th September of the same year.
He became King on the abdication of the Queen, 24th July,
1567, at the age of but thirteen months and four days, and was
crowned in the Parish Kirk of Stirling on the 29th July, 1567.
The first seal used by James was in use very soon afterwards,
for there is an impression preserved among the Cottonian
Charters in the British Museum, dated in 1572, and another in
the following year. It was in use certainly as late as 1592,
for the same national institute possesses a specimen attached to
a deed among the Additional Charters. A better impression
occurs among the Morton Charters, dated 1583. On the
THE SEALS OF SCOTLANJ). ']']
obverse is shown the king in plate armour, fluted and engraved,
with a hehiiet adorned with five feathers in a plume ; a drawn
sword held aloft in the right hand. The head of the charger is
also ornamented with a plume of ostrich feathers. The horse's
caparisons are embroidered in front with a large thistle, slipped
and leaved, within an ornamental border, and behind with a
shield of the Royal Arms of Scotland ensigned with a crown,
set between wavy branches of arabesque foliage and in an
ornamental border. The background here, as in the seal
previously described, is replenished with elegant sprays and
curving branches of foliage. The legend, when perfect, reads —
lACOBVS . SEXTVS . DEI . GRATIA . HEX . .SCOTORX M.
The reverse bears the shield of the royal arms, suspended by
straps from a helmet affronid, with ornamental mantling of
thistle-leaf work, the royal crown, the royal crest, and a label
inscribed with the motto —
IN . DEFENS.
The supporters are, as before, two unicorns, each gorged with a
crown, chained, and ringed, with two lance-llags, one of which
bears the saltire of St. Andrew crowned, the other the Royal
yS THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. .
Arms of Scotland. Round the lower half of the shield passes
the collar of the Order of the Thistle, with its proper pendant.
The legend is that already used by Mary, to which attention has
been drawn —
SALVV.M . FAC . ]'OPVL\M . T\\M . DOMINK.
After accession to the throne of England, on the death of Queen
Elizabeth, 24th March, 1602-3, at Richmond, James VI. was, on
the same day, proclaimed as "James I., King of England, Scot-
land, France, and Ireland," at Whitehall and at the Cross of
London, and at the Cross of Edinburgh on the 31st March, 1603.
This necessitated the provision of a new seal, which was accord-
ingly made. There is a fine impression preserved among the
muniments belonging to the Duke of Sutherland at Dunrobin
Castle. It is of larger diameter than any yet noticed, and
measures about five inches and a half. Here the armorial design
occupies the obverse, and the equestrian figure of the king is
relegated to the reverse. Upon a mount, and sustained by two
lances set saltire-wise, each bearing a fiag, the one charged with
the saltire of St. Andrew of Scotland, the other with the cross of
St. George of England, is the shield of the Royal Arms of Scot-
land in combination with the newly-acquired kingdoms henceforth
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
and for ever to be ruled by one and the same sovereign. The
shield is quarterly ; in the first and fourth quarters, Scotland
(but the tail ot the lion is, by inadvertence, turned outwards) ;
in the second, France modern and England quarterly; in the
third, Ireland. The shield is adorned below with the collar of
the Order of the Thisde and its pendant badge of St. Andrew in
an oval frame or panel. Outside this is the garter of the Order
of the Garter, inscribed with its appropriate motto of world-wide
renown. The pendant George hangs from the end of the Garter.
The shield is ensigned with the Royal Crown of Scodand, a
jewelled circlet and cap ornamented with frilled or crocketted
hoops. The supporters also symbolise the merging of the two
countries under one rule. The dexter is an unicorn of Scotland,
crowned, gorged, and chained, the tail downwards ; the sinister
is a lion rampant of England, also crowned. The legend of this
interesting seal is —
lACOBUS . D.C . mag . IJRIT . FRAN . FT . 11115 . REX.
which, it will be noticed, is not the same style as that used in
the Royal Proclamation on the Accession. It is also worthy of
remark that the phrase, "Magnc'e Britannia;," was abandoned on
some occasions by later sovereigns, who reverted to the older
8o THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
formula of "Angliai Francise, et HiberniiL%" as, for example, was
done by Charles I., Charles II., William and Mary, and others.
The reverse of this seal contains the representation of the
king on a horse springing to the right upon a hilly mount,
possibly intended for a landscape of the city of Edinburgh and
its environs. The rider is crowned, and he wears a breast-plate,
plate arniour, and long boots. The right hand, which is
uplifted, wears a gauntlet, and holds a broad-sword with deeply-
grooved blade, not shown to its full length, but stopping abrupdy
at the edge of the delineation. The caparisons of the horse
consist of the saddle ; a breast cloth embroidered with the
national flower, slipped and leaved, within a border ; the clothing
of the flanks is also bordered, and shows a rose of England en
soleil. In the background or field of the seal are set two of the
badges hitherto belonging to the kings of England — a fleur-de-
lis -of France over the head of the horse ; a Tudor portcullis,
chained and ringed, over the flanks.
The legend, following an already established precedent, is a
quotation from the Scriptures —
DEVS . IVDICIVM . TVVM . REGI . DA.
(Psalm l.x.xii. 1 ).
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 8 1
The four badges thus depicted on this side of the seal attest
the bringing together under one sovereign of the several houses
and kingdoms which they symbolize.
We now arrive at the last seal of the series used by Scottish
sovereigns of which it is reserved for us to take cognizance, that
of Charles I., whose birth took place at Dunfermline on the 19th
November, 1600, and whose accession to the kingship of
England, Scodand, France, and Ireland dates from the day of
King James I.'s death, at the mansion or palace of Theobalds, in
Hertfordshire, on the 27th March, 1625, after a reign of upwards
of thirty-five years over the kingdom of Great Britain, and
upwards of fifty-seven over Scotland. Charles I. adapted the
second seal for Scotland which had been employed, as we have
seen, by his father, merely altering the name on the obverse.
But the reverse, although a copy, differs considerably in measure-
ments, proportion of details, and numerous little peculiarities of
style and shape, from that by which it was inspired. Here the
shield of arms, as already described, is ensigned with a crown,
and encircled with the collar of the Order of the Thistle, with
pendant badge, and the Garter with its proper pendant, the
George and Dragon. The lance-flags of St. Andrew and St.
George, the unicorn supporters, and other attributes, make up
82 THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
the sum of the emblems of sovereignty exhibited by this seal,
which represents the last stage of pure Scottish seal art. The
legend, indeed, passes over the name of Scotland in silence, as
the kingdom had merged into that of Great Britain —
CAROL\S . D.c; . MAC . liRIT . FRAN . ET . HIB . REX.
Charles I. employed a second Great Seal for Scotland, designed
to accord with the national taste. The British Museum
possesses two examples, dated respectively in 1630 and 1632.
The earlier is known by a cast from a good impression recorded
by Laing as being in possession of Mr. \\ \ E. Ayton, of
Edinburgh ; the latter is an original in green wax, among the
Additional Charters. In the obverse of this we observe the king
seated on a horse springing to the left hand on rough foreground
enriched with plants, and having in the background a shadowy
and distant pros})ect of the City of Edinburgh, taken from the
north, and including the outline of Arthur's Seat. The king
is encased in plate armour of the conventional kind, with oval
shield, long sword, feather plume, and other military symbols.
The legend, after the Scottish motive, reads —
IVSTITL\ . ET . VERITAS.
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 83
The reverse is a copy of that of the first seal, with proportions
of details varying from those seen on that reverse. Here, for
some obscure reason, which no one has explained, the phrase,
" Magnai Britannice," gives way to the older form, and the
legend is —
CAROLVS . D . G . SCOTLK . ANGLLV. . FRAN . FT . HIlJFRNLi: .
REX . FIDEI . DEFENSOR.
It is foreign to the scope of this work to pursue the series of
Great Seals of sovereigns of the kingdom which had now ceased
to have a separate existence. The succeeding rulers employed
seals for matters connected with the public business of the
country, but they were of English design and workmanship, and
to the Scottish antiquary and historical student possess little
genuine interest.
Connected with the foregoing are the Privy Seals, Secreta,
or Secret Seals, and Signets of Scottish sovereigns. They are
simple in design, but attractive and of interest. Among them
may be mentioned that of Alexander III., used about 1260,
bearing on the one side an effigy of the king, on the other a
84 THE SEALS 0¥ SCOTLAND.
triangular shield of arms of the kingdom of Scotland, with the
Biblical legend on each side of —
ESTO . I'RNDENS . VT . SERPENS . ET . SLMPLEX . SICNT . COL\'Mi;A .
(Matt. .V. 76).
John Balliol and Robert Bruce I. use the royal shield of arms,
on their Secretum. David II. has the design of two arms,
vested with long maunches or sleeves, sustaining the royal
shield. Edward Balliol hangs his royal shield on a tree of three
branches. Robert II. places his shield within a carved rosette
of elegant tracery, and ensigns it with a crown. James I. adds
to the heraldry of the Secretum two lions as supporters, and
introduces the cinquefoil and quatrefoil differentials which the
sovereigns of this name also are shown to have placed on their
Great Seals.* James II. still uses the two lions as supporters,
and adds differences of trefoils and annulets. James I\'. adds,
for differences, the mullet, the mascle, the crescent, and the
saltire, in his Secretum ; in his Privy Seal, which has been
thought to exhibit French intluence, a copy of the figure of the
king in majesty, as on the Great Seal, is given. This curious
* Mr. John Cruickshanks, in his Armorial Ensigns of the Royal Burgh of Aberdeen,
1888, p. 29, gives a good illustration of the Privy Seal of James L appended to a deed dated
25th March, 1424 ; it is in better preservation than that recorded by Laing for the year 1429.
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
S5
seal is known as having been set in the silver butt of a knife, at
one time in possession of the late Mr. Edward Hawkins, keeper
of the antiquities of the British Museum. Mary still uses the
two lions to support the royal arms, and introduces, as difference-
marks, the triple tail for the lions, the annulet, mascle, saltire,
cross, and thistle. The signet of this queen bears, above the
armorial design, the motto, ix dekens, and the royal initial
letters, M. R. James \T. keeps the design of shield and
supporters which his predecessors have employed.
CHAPTER l\\
Seals of Oueens-Consort and (jf Officers of State.
VERY few seals of the consorts of the sovereigns of
Scotland have been preserved. That of Ermengard,
the wife of King William the Lion, exists among the
Tweeddale Charters, attached to a deed dated about 1220, but
it is imperfect. Like all seals of noble ladies of the early
thirteenth century, it is oval. The queen is shown standing,
and draped in a tightly-fitting dress, embroidered with a pattern
called by the heralds diapered lozengy, with a trefoil in each
interstice, and she wears also a loose mantle. In the right
hand the queen holds a flower of conventional design, consisting,
it would seem, of three fleurs-de-lis set on one stem. Euphemia,
Countess of Moray, the daughter of Hugh, Earl of Ross, and
consort of King Robert II., used a seal, in 1375, attached to a
deed among the Glammis Charters, where she is depicted as
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 87
Standing full length, with long curling hair, a dress of tight
proportions, a fur mantle, and a crown of three flowers. In her
right hand is set the sceptre, with top of three leaves, the left
hand lies on her breast and holds the sovereign emblem, the
orb or mound, unless, perhaps, the object, which is somewhat
indistinct, is part of her attire. Here we observe that adjunct
of the niche, with traceried panels of Gothic architecture and a
carved canopy enriched with crocketted finials. The seal also
bears the shield of the Royal Arms of Scotland, on the dexter
side of honour ; on the sinister side the shield bears three
lions rampant, two and one, for the family of Ross. Queen
Joan Beaufort, daughter of John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset,
and wife of King James I., used a seal, in 1439, which shows
a lozenge-shaped shield of arms of Scotland, France, and
England, set within a bordure compony, ingeniously added by
the heralds, to signify the family coat of Beaufort. Her signet
bears the same heraldic composition. Mary of Gueldres, the
Queen of James H., in 1459 employed a seal of much beauty
and of original design, probably inspired by a French or
Belgian taste. The device shows an angel in a seated posture,
turned slighdy towards the left, with hair long and flowing, and
large wings upraised and expanded, with the inner side
88 THE SEALS OK SCOTLAND.
towards the view ; draped with a long mantle, or vest-
ment, arranged in conventional pleats or folds at the base of
the seal, and supporting- in front a shield of arms, held up also
by the strap passing over the left shoulder of the celestial figure.
The armorial bearings are : — per pale, dexter, the Royal Arms
of Scotland, for the daron ; sinister, per pale, dexter, a lion
rampant, contourne, queue fourchee, crowned, for the Duchy
of GuELDKEs ; sinister, a lion rampant, for the Duchy ot
JuLiEKS, for the /e7ue. Above the shield is an open crown,
composed of six fleurs-de-lis, or leaves, with interspersed pearls.
It is curious that the border or panel in which this interesting
design is enclosed is crested and cusped on the right side only.
The legend is as follows —
S . MARIE . REGINE . SCOCIE . FILIE . DUCES . CELREN . ET . Y S
Laing has figured this in his Catalogue of Seals. This same
queen also used a Secretum, or privy-seal, in a.d. 1462, of which
a sulphur cast is preserved in the British Museum. It bears the
legend of —
SECRETUM . MARIE . REGINE . SCOCIE.
Margaret of England, daughter of King Henry VII., Queen
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. Sq
Consort of King James IV., used three seals, which are still
extant among the British Museum collection of casts formerly
in the possession of Laing. These are : — i, a letter seal ; 2, a
signet ; and 3, a small signet or ring seal. The letter seal is
particularly attractive. It measures only seven-eighths of an
inch, and represents the queen, crowned, and vested in ample,
flowing drapery; her face is slightly turned to the left, and before
her is a favourite bracket, or lap-dog, leaping up to its mistress.
In the background, on each side, is a rose branch, slipped and
leaved, doubtless in allusion to the union of the rival roses of
York and Lancaster, of which she was the living representative.
Her signet exists in a fine impression among the Philliphaugh
Charters. It is of armorial design, and bears the arms of her
royal spouse, impaling her paternal coat, viz. : dexter, Scotland ;
sinister, the Royal Arms of Henry VII., quarterly, i, 4, Modern
France ; 2, 3, England. Above the shield is a Queen Consort's
crown of fleurs-de-lis, crosses, and pearls, and the inscribed label,
which completes the design, bears the motto —
IN . GOD . LS . MI . TRAIST.
The small signet of this queen resembles the foregoing, and
F
90 THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
bears a shield of arms, ensigned with a crown, and flanked on
each side with a wavy sprig of foHage.
An uncertain signet seal is preserved among the British
Museum casts, which has been attributed by some to Queen
Mary, and by others to Queen Margaret. It bears a shield of
arms, per pale, dexter, Scotland ; sinister, party per fess, in
chief three fleurs-de-lis, one and two, for France ; in base,
England. The shield is ensigned with a crown composed of
two crosses set between three fleurs-de-lis ; and at the sides are
the initial letters, M.R. It is remarkable that Mary, Queen of
Scots, used similar armorial bearings to these, but in reversed
position, setting the arms of Scotland in the sinister, and those
of France and England in the dexter side of the shield in the
counterseal of arms attached to the Great Seal of Francis and
Mary, as King and Queen of France. Unfortunately there is
no clue to enable us to attribute this seal to either queen in
preference to the other.
Anne of Denmark, Queen-Consort of James VL, has left
three seals, also in existence among the national collections.
The first is a signet, impressed on an original document among
the Egerton Charters of the British Museum, dated in a.d. 1603.
It bears a shield of arms, per pale, dexter, Scodand ; sinister,
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAXD. 9 1
a modification of the Royal Arms of Denmark, all ensigned with
a crown ; and at the sides of the shield are the queen's initials,
A.R., each crowned. The second and smaller signet bears simply
the monogram of A.R., ensigned with a crown. There is much
doubt if this signet is properly to be attributed to this queen.
The third seal belongs to the year 1615, and measures three
inches and three-eighths. It was used for the queen's royal
demesne of Dunfermline, and the impression is preserved
among the Mar documents, from which Laing obtained it.
On the one side it bears a fine large shield of arms, per
pale, dexter, Scotland, but with a dimidiated tressure ; sinister,
a very intricate armorial arrangement of royal and other coats
for Denmark, Norway, Ancient Sweden, Gothes or Gothland,
the Vandal Ensign, Schleswick, Holstein, Stormerk, Ditmarsh,
Delmenhorst, and Oldenburg ; representing, in fact, the Royal
Arms of Denmark as borne by the queen's dynasty. The
crown, which covers this shield, bears a cross, and there
are two supporters : that for Scotland being a unicorn, gorged
with a coronet, chained and ringed, on the dexter side ;
that for Denmark, a wild man, wreathed about the loins, and
holding a club, on the sinister side. Below is the collar and
badge of the Order of the Thisde. The legend is imperfect.
92 THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
The reverse bears a shield of arms : a cross tlory between five
martlets for Dunfermline, in Fifeshire. This is, in point of fact,
the shield of arms of Edward the Confessor, King of England,
as assigned to that monarch by the heralds of the middle ages.
Probably this is owing to the sainted Scottish queen, Margaret,
great-niece of King Edward, being the patroness of the Regality
of Dunfermline. Her effigy, and the shield of Edward the
Confessor's arms, appear on the Regality Seal of this ancient
town, the brass matrix of which seal is still preserved in the
Advocates' Library, Edinburgh.
Very few early seals of Scottish courts are extant. One that
may be mentioned here is that for the Office of King's Justice
for the lands north of the Forth, found by Laing attached to a
document bearing the date of a.d. 1392. The design is a shield
(of arms ?) charged with the royal initial letter, R, for Robertus
III. Rex, within a tressure flory counter-flory, derived from that
contained in the Royal Arms of Scotland. Above the shield
appear the head and neck of a falcon or eagle, supporting the
shield in front with its talons, "an idea," we are told in the
British Museum Catalogue, "not improbably derived from the
eagle supporting the shield of royal arms seen in the side-niches
of the Great Seals of Scotland, as, for example, that of Robert
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 93
Stuart II." (See the illustration No. 28. The legend of this seal
is apparently —
S . OFFIC . lUSTIC . EX . PARTE . BOREALI . AQUE . DE . FORTH.
The corresponding seal for the Office of King's Justice for
the lands south of the Forth is later ; it seems to have been
made in the fifteenth century, and an impression is known to be
attached to a document dated in 1590. This bears a shield of
arms of Scotland, with the tail of the lion turned (as is not
infrequently the case in Scottish heraldry) inwardly towards the
back of the beast. The legend corresponds with that given
above, but the phrase, ex parte australi, takes the place of ex
parte boreali in the foregoing.
Two interesting Admiralty Seals of Scodand may be
appropriately mentioned in this place. The first is that of
Patrick Hepburn, third Earl of Bothwell, Lord High Admiral
of Scotland in a.d. 1515. Here the family arms are combined
with an anchor in the base part of the shield, to designate the
admiral's office. The legend is —
S . PATRICII . HEPBURN . AD^^RAL . SCOT.
The second seal is that of James Hepburn, fifth Earl of
94 THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND.
Bothvvell, Great Admiral of Scotland, and afterwards Duke of
Albany, a man historically pre-eminent as the husband of Mary,
Queen of Scots. The impression of this seal belongs to a deed
dated in 1558. The Admiralty device of the anchor re-appears
here, also charged with a shield of the family arms of De Vaux
and Hepburn quarterly. The motto here is: kkh' tkvst ; and
the legend reads — -
SIGILLU.M . JACOr.I . COMITIS . DE . BOITIIVILE . DXI .
KALIS . ADMIRAL.
We have now gone through the most notable seals of the
classes appertaining to the royal family and the Crown officers
of Scotland. Taken together, they form a very interesting and
instructive series, whether looked at from the standpoint of
history or that of art. It has frequently been said that the
history of a nation is reflected on its seals and its coins, and
Scotland is no exception to this rule. The archaic period of
the seals exhibits the simplicity and severity of the manner and
customs prevalent at early times in the country. The nascent
and gradually awakening spirit of beauty, which inspired so
many wonderful examples of architecture throughout the
kingdom, reached the seal designers and engravers in their
THE SEALS OF SCOTLAND. 95
endeavours to produce work worthy of the artistic times in
which they Hved. The culminating era of so-called Gothic
styles found a ready response in the seal to the challenge which
the ecclesiastical or monastic edifice offered to it ; then came
the rejection of the Gothic, and preference for Italian and
Renaissance designs, which in turn were adopted by the national
art workers ; and finally the post-Palladian — which practically
crushed all native creative talent in order to make room for
incongruous, piecemeal imitations, culled at haphazard from
the ruin of multifarious styles — invaded the domain of the seal
designers, and strangled, we fear, for ever the native Caledonian
feeling and taste which might, under more favourable conditions,
have found a congenial medium on the seals of the country.
We shall observe the same influences affecting in turn the seals
of churches and monasteries, cities and towns, nobles and arms-
bearing families, and in this way it is shown to be true that the
glory of Scotland is inscribed on the seals of her rulers and her
children.
No. 1. Duncan II., King of Scots.
S)7
^
No. 2. Edgar, King of Scots.
No. 3. MatKildis, or Maud, of Scotland.
101
No. 4. Alexander I., King of Scots.
103
No. 5. Alexander I., King of Scots.
105
No. 6. William "the Lion," King of Scots.
107
No. 7. William " the Lion, King oi Scott
No. 8. Alexander II., King of Scots.
Ill
No. 9. Alexander II., King of Scots.
H
No. 10. Alexander III., King of Scots.
(First liml.)
No. 11. Alexander III., King of Scots.
(First Seal.)
No. 12. Alexander III., King of Scots.
(Sf'coiid S<'i(l.)
No. 13. Alexander III., King of Scots.
(Second Seal.)
121
No. 14. Great Seal appointed for the Government of the Realm
after death of King Alexander III.
123
No. 15. Great Seal appointed for the Government of the Realm
after death of King Alexander III.
l-i5
No. 16. John Balliol, King of Scots.
127
No. IT. John Balliol, King of Scots.
129
No. 18. Edward I., King of England.
(Sad for Uocernmeiit uf Scotland.)
lai
No. 19. Edward I., King of England.
(Recersc of Seal fur (Joiernmitnt of Scntlawl.)
133
No. 20. Robert Bruce I., King of Scots.
{First ."Seal.)
No. 21. Robert Bruce I., King of Scots.
(First tSeal.)
137
No. 22. Robert Bruce 1., King of Scots.
(Second Seal.)
139
No. 23. Robert Bruce I., King of Scots.
(Second /Seal.)
141
No. 24. David II., King of Scots.
No. 25. David II., King of Scots.
K
No. 26. Edward Balliol, King of Scots.
117
No. 27. Edward Balliol, King of Scots.
149
No. 28. Robert Stuart II., King of Scots.
151
No. 29. Robert Stuart II., King of Scots.
No. 30. Robert Stuart II., King of Scots.
(Later Seal.)
No. 31. Robert Stuart II., King of Scots.
{jMter Seal.)
No. 32. James I., King of Scots.
151)
No. 33. James I., King of Scots.
161
No. 34. Robert Stuart, Duke of Albany, Governor or Scotland, etc.
loa
No. 35. Robert Stuart, Duke of Albany, Governor of Scotland.
ir.r.
No. 36. Murdacli Stuart, Regent of Scotland, etc.
No. 37. Murdach Stuart, Regent of Scotland, etc.
IG!)
No. 38. James II., King of Scots.
171
No. 39. James II., King of Scots.
173
No. 40. James V., King of Scots.
(liccond Seal.)
175
No. 41. James V., King of Scots.
{Secuad >St'a(.)
M
No. 42. Mary, Queen of Scots.
(First Seal.)
179
No. 43. Mary, Queen of Scots.
(First Seal.)
181
No. 44. Mary, Queen of Scots.
(Sevond S,-(il.)
is;j
No. 45. Mary, Queen of Scots.
(Conntcrscal of the Second Seal.)
No. 46. Mary, Queen of Scots.
(Third Seal.)
1S7
No. 47. Mary, Queen of Scots.
( Cuuntcrseal vf the Third >'<eal.)
189
No. 48. James VI., King of Scots.
(Seal fur iScotla nd.)
101
No. 49. James VI., King of Scots.
(.Seal for ,'Scutland.)
N
103
•^
No. 50. James I., King of Great Britain.
(Seal fur Scthmil.)
No. 51. James I., King of Great Britain.
(S<'((1 for Scotland.)
197
No. 52. Charles I., King of Great Britain.
(i^eal for ,Scutland.)
J M
No. 53. Cliarles I., King of Great Britain.
(iSeal for Scotland.)
201
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