Porter_Scottish_Chiefs.txt topic ['13', '324', '378', '393']
had lost
her sight, but all her other senses were entire, and her body was yet
firm and active. had seen and in her
earliest youth and frequently told particulars of them. king, who
entertained a love and veneration for great men, resolved to visit the
old lady, that he might hear her describe the manners and strength of
the two heroes. therefore sent a message acquainting her that he
would come to her the next day. she was told that the king was
approaching, she went down into the hall of her castle, attended by a
train of matrons, many of whom were her own descendants. advanced
to meet his majesty so easily and gracefully that he doubted her being
blind! his desire she embraced and kissed him. took her by the
hand and made her sit down on the seat next to him, and then, in a long
conference, he interrogated her on ancient matters. others he
asked her to tell him what sort of a man was; what was
his personal figure; what his bearing, and with what degree of strength
he was endowed. put the same comparing question to her concerning
. ',' said she, 'was a man beautiful, and of fine
appearance. strength was so great that he could easily have
overcome any mortal man of his time, save one-- !
in so far as he excelled other men, he was excelled by ,
both in stature and in bodily strength! in wrestling,
could have overthrown two such men as . he was comely as
well as strong, and full of the beauty of wisdom.'"
might have thought, had known the above record in my young days,
when heard my old friend describe the heroes,
that she must have been one of those matrons of honor to ,
and had "seen baith the stalwarth chiefs" in her also venerable life.
the description of my humble historiographer was the work of her
own heart, suggested there by tradition, and a holy reverence of even
the name of to help it out; and so my pen, moved by the
same impulse, has attempted to copy the picture she presented.
.
unhappy and wicked woman's descendance, as daughter of a
of the , and her husband, , of , is given
in all the old genealogical words, and her marriage with
de , followed up by her most unnatural treasons against her
native country, are not less faithfully recorded. it is something
curious that while revising this volume a few years ago, met a
paragraph in the newspaper, relative to this very
lady--now dead upward of five hundred years--and dated 26th,
1831; almost the very anniversary-day of 's death!
was an extract from the , and runs thus:
" preparing the foundation of the classical monument which
is about to erect on -a-, to the memory of , the
workmen discovered the remains of an extensive edifice, intermixed with
a blackish mold, in which human bones frequently occur, with stirrups,
buckles, and other decayed fragments of ancient armor. an
excavation were found a quantity of black earth, the debris of animal
matter, some human bones, a bracelet, and a considerable portion of
charcoal, from which it may be concluded that the individuals whose
remains were discovered, had perished during a conflagration of the
castle. tradition of the country is, that-- ladies had been
there burned to death. as it is known that the of ,
a daughter of the of , involved herself in the quarrels
between and , and was, after the ascendency of the former,
in a parliament held at in 1329, doomed to perpetual imprisonment
for the crime of laesoe majestatis, it is no violent stretch of
conjecture to come to the conclusion that this very lady may have been
one of the unhappy victims whose remains have been thus accidentally
brought to light. excavation undoubtedly (being the most probably
supposition) was that usually found in the base of the dungeon-keep of
the castle. -a-, on the summit of which 's
monument is to be placed, overlooks the whole strath, and is even
visible from ." far the note from the , newspaper (which
was first appended to this "almost veritable romance-biography of
," in the edition of 1831); and on comparing the
circumstances and dates of the period referred to, it does not seem
improbable that such might have been the fearful end of that ambitious
and cruelly impassioned woman. de was not a man to burden
himself with cares for such a partner, after her treasons had become
abortive, in the secret continuance of which, most likely, she had been
discovered in some of her territorial permitted visits to her inherited
lands in . the relics of the other two female forms found
in the ashes, may reasonably be supposed to have been those of her
personal attendants, sharing her captivity.
above coincidence of recollections between the far past, and the
present nearly but passing events, may be regarded as rather
remarkable, for the hill of -a- may now be looked upon as an
object recalling to memory of two heroes. 's noblest son,
of full five hundred ages gone! other, her boast on the plains of
, within our own remembrance. the same summit brings two of
her daughters likewise to eminent recollection. that disgraced her
sex in every relation of life; the other, who honors it, in all.
hand of the first would have destroyed her country's greatest hero; the
hand of the second raised a tumulus, to maintain the memory and the
example of such true sons of her country in a perpetual existence.
, .
, , .
scarf belonged to, and was worn by the truly royal, but something
romantically adventurous of , the . was
fond of roaming about in his dominions, like the celebrated
, in various disguises, to see and to observe; and to make
acquaintance with his people of all degrees, without being known by
them. one of these incognito wanderings, about the year 1533, he
was hospitably entertained for a night, by an ancestor of .
's lady, a man of liberal name in the country; and who
unwittingly had given most courteous bed and board to his sovereign
(then personally unknown to him), when he thought he was entertaining a
person not much above the rank of the commonest degree, it being the
monarch's humor generally to assume the most ordinary garb outwardly;
and it therefore depended on the tact of the entertainer, from his own
inherent nobleness, to discern the real quality of the mind and manners
of his transitory guest. host in question did not discern that it
was his sovereign he was then treating like a prince; but he felt it
was a visitant, be he whom he may, that was worthy his utmost respect;
and the monarch, highly pleased with his night's lodging, and previous
gracious welcome, on his departure next morning, presented to the lady
of the mansion a grateful tribute to her good care, in the form of a
small parcel rolled up, which, when opened, they found to be a splendid
scarf, indorsed to herself and lord, in the name of the o'
. then knew it was the "generous and pleasant of
" who had been their guest.
on whom this beautiful memorial of received
hospitality had been bestowed, was , of , in
, from whom the writer of this note literally traces the
present inheritance of the scarf. had an only daughter, who
married , . ., who also had an only daughter, and she
married , brother to of -. only son,
, married , daughter of -- , ., and
an heiress of the brave house of , by which marriage the ancient
and honorable families of , , and , were woven into one
branch; and from this branch, indeed, from the first set-off of its
united stem was born of this marriage, , who dying in the
year 1836, bequeathed the long-cherished scarf to . , the
worthy husband of her beloved kinswoman--direct in the line of
, to whom it had originally been given.
scarf was composed of a rich and brilliant tissue of gold and
silver threads, interwoven with silk-embroidered flowers in their
natural colors. are chiefly pansies, the emblems of remembrance;
thistles, the old insignia of ; and the field daisy, the
favorite symbol of ' mother, the beautiful .
flowers, entwined together, run in stripes down the splendid web of
the scarf, which terminates at each end with what has been a
magnificent fringe of similar hues and brightness. scarf is seven
feet in length, by one foot nine inches in width.
interesting bequest was still further enriched to . by
the addition of a cap and gloves, which, tradition says, the worthy
chief of wore on his nuptial day. was also a smaller
pair of gloves, of a more delicate size and texture, appropriated by
the same testimony to the fair bride. these articles are supposed
to have been of earlier fabric than that of the scarf--probably the
year 1500--and they are of less exquisite manufacture; the former
appearing to be from the fine looms of , and the latter wrought
in the less practiced machinery of our then ruder northern isle.
cap is of a pale red silk, with gold cord and embroidery down the
seams, it being formed to fit the head, and therefore in compartments;
broad where they are inserted into the rich fillet-band round the head,
and narrowing to the closely-fitting top. looked something like an
cap. gloves, which are said to have been those of the
chief, were of a brownish fine leather, with embroidered gauntlet tops.
lady's are of a lighter hue, still softer leather, with gay fringe
of varied-colored silk and gold, and tassels at the wrists. these
pairs of gloves were well shaped and most neatly sewed.
these relics of antiquity, and of ancestorial memorials devolving on
. , he sought for a place of deposit for them, suitable to
their dignity, their character, and their times. had in his
possession a curious old table, of the era of the , which
he soon adapted to the purpose. large oaken slab was of sufficient
dimensions to admit of the royal gift being spread in graceful folds
over the dark surface of the wood, which the better displayed the
tissue's interchanging tints, and also gave room for the disposal of
the cap and gloves, which were placed in a kind of armorial crest
between its gauntlets, at the head of the scarf, and at its foot was
added a beautifully written inscription in old emblazoned characters,
historic of the interesting relics above. whole is secured from
dust or other injury by a covering of plate-glass, extending over the
entire surface of the table, which, having a raised carved oak
parapet-border of about four inches high along all its sides, forms a
sort of castellated sanctuary that completely defends from accident the
glass and the treasure beneath it; which is distinctly seen through the
lucid medium.
shape of the table is like that we call a sofa-table, but very
long, being five feet by two and a half. depth of its frieze
altogether is eight inches, for it extends four inches below the
four-inch parapet above, and this lower portion is worked into a
foliage enwreathing the sides. whole height of the table from the
feet of its four-clawed pedestal, is three feet two inches.
pedestal, or rather branching stem of polished oak--being of the sturdy
contour of its original growth, with its superb ramifications
supporting the precious slab above--shows an elaborate design in its
carvings, far beyond my power to describe, so luxuriant, so various, so
intricate, one might almost suppose that the matchless tool of the
famous had traced its wild and graceful grotesque.
four claws, which are like roots from the stem of the pedestal,
partake of the same rich arabesque in their design, and terminate in
the form of lion's paws.