NOTES
Note I. p. l4.--DAVID RAMSAY
David Ramsay, watchmaker and horologer to James I., was a real person,though the author has taken the liberty of pressing him into the serviceof fiction. Although his profession led him to cultivate the exactsciences, like many at this period he mingled them with pursuits whichwere mystical and fantastic. The truth was, that the boundaries betweentruth and falsehood in mathematics, astronomy, and similar pursuits,were not exactly known, and there existed a sort of _terra incognita_between them, in which the wisest men bewildered themselves. DavidRamsay risked his money on the success of the vaticinations which hisresearches led him to form, since he sold clocks and watches undercondition, that their value should not become payable till King Jameswas crowned in the Pope's chair at Rome. Such wagers were common in thatday, as may be seen by looking at Jonson's Every Man out of his Humour.
David Ramsay was also an actor in another singular scene, in which thenotorious astrologer Lilly was a performer, and had no small expectationon the occasion, since he brought with him a half-quartern sack to putthe treasure in.
"David Ramsay, his Majesty's clock-maker, had been informed that therewas a great quantity of treasure buried in the cloister of WestminsterAbbey. He acquaints Dean Withnam therewith, who was also then Bishopof Lincoln. The Dean gave him liberty to search after it, with thisproviso, that if any was discovered, his church should have a share ofit. Davy Ramsay finds out one John Scott, who pretended the use of theMosaical rods, to assist him herein. [Footnote: The same now called,I believe, the Divining Rod, and applied to the discovery of waternot obvious to the eye.] I was desired to join with him, unto whichI consented. One winter's night, Davy Ramsay, with several gentlemen,myself, and Scott, entered the cloisters. We played the hazel rods roundabout the cloisters. Upon the west end of the cloisters the rods turnedone over another, an argument that the treasure was there. The labourersdigged at least six feet deep, and then we met with a coffin; but which,in regard it was not heavy, we did not open, which we afterwards muchrepented.
"From the cloisters we went into the abbey church, where, upon asudden, (there being no wind when we began,) so fierce and so high, soblustering and loud a wind did rise, that we verily believed the westend of the church would have fallen upon us. Our rods would not move atall; the candles and torches, also, but one were extinguished, or burnedvery dimly. John Scott, my partner, was amazed, looked pale, knew notwhat to think or do, until I gave directions and command to dismiss thedemons; which, when done, all was quiet again, and each man returnedunto his lodging late, about twelve o'clock at night. I could neversince be induced to join with any such like actions.
"The true miscarriage of the business was by reason of so many peoplebeing present at the operation; for there was about thirty, somelaughing, others deriding us; so that, if we had not dismissed thedemons, I believe most part of the abbey church would have been blowndown. Secrecy and intelligent operators, with a strong confidence andknowledge of what they are doing, are best for the work."--LILLY'S _Lifeand Times_, p. 46.
David Ramsay had a son called William Ramsay, who appears to havepossessed all his father's credulity. He became an astrologer, and in1651-2 published "_Vox Stellarum_, an Introduction to the Judgment ofEclipses and the Annual Revolutions of the World." The edition of 1652is inscribed, to his father. It would appear, as indeed it might beargued from his mode of disposing of his goods, that the old horologerhad omitted to make hay while the sun shone; for his son, in hisdedication, has this exception to the paternal virtues, "It's true yourcarelessness in laying up while the sun shone for the tempests of astormy day, hath given occasion to some inferior spirited people not tovalue you according to what you are by nature and in yourself, for suchlook not to a man longer than he is in prosperity, esteeming nonebut for their wealth, not wisdom, power, nor virtue." From theseexpressions, it is to be apprehended that while old David Ramsay, afollower of the Stewarts, sunk under the Parliamentary government, hisson, William, had advanced from being a dupe to astrology to the dignityof being himself a cheat.
Note II. p. 27.-GEORGE HERIOT
This excellent person was but little known by his actions when alive,but we may well use, in this particular, the striking phrase ofScripture, "that being dead he yet speaketh." We have already mentioned,in the Introduction, the splendid charity of which he was the founder;the few notices of his personal history are slight and meagre.
George Heriot was born at Trabroun, in the parish of Gladsmuir; he wasthe eldest son of a goldsmith in Edinburgh, descended from a family ofsome consequence in East Lothian. His father enjoyed the confidence ofhis fellow-citizens, and was their representative in Parliament. Hewas, besides, one of the deputies sent by the inhabitants of the city topropitiate the King, when he had left Edinburgh abruptly, after the riotof 17th December, 1596.
George Heriot, the son, pursued his father's occupation of agoldsmith, then peculiarly lucrative, and much connected with that of amoney-broker. He enjoyed the favour and protection of James, and of hisconsort, Anne of Denmark. He married, for his first wife, a maiden ofhis own rank, named Christian Marjoribanks, daughter of a respectableburgess. This was in 1586. He was afterwards named jeweller to theQueen, whose account to him for a space of ten years amounted to nearlyL40,000. George Heriot, having lost his wife, connected himself withthe distinguished house of Rosebery, by marrying a daughter of JamesPrimrose, Clerk to the Privy Council. Of this lady he was deprived byher dying in child-birth in 1612, before attaining her twenty-firstyear. After a life spent in honourable and successful industry, GeorgeHeriot died in London, to which city he had followed his royal master,on the 12th February, 1624, at the age of sixty-one years. His picture,(copied by Scougal from a lost original,) in which he is represented inthe prime of life, is thus described: "His fair hair, which overshadesthe thoughtful brow and calm calculating eye, with the cast of humouron the lower part of the countenance, are all indicative of the genuineScottish character, and well distinguish a person fitted to movesteadily and wisely through the world, with a strength of resolutionto ensure success, and a disposition to enjoy it."--_Historical andDescriptive Account of Heriot's Hospital, with a Memoir of the Founder,by Messrs James and John Johnstone._ Edinburgh, 1827.
I may add, as every thing concerning George Heriot is interesting,that his second wife, Alison Primrose, was interred in Saint Gregory'sChurch, from the register of which parish the Rev. Mr. Barham, Rector,has, in the kindest manner, sent me the following extract:--"Mrs.Alison, the wife of Mr. George Heriot, gentleman, 20th April, 1612."Saint Gregory's, before the Great Fire of London which consumed theCathedral, formed one of the towers of old Saint Paul's, and occupiedthe space of ground now filled by Queen Anne's statue. In the southaisle of the choir Mrs. Heriot reposed under a handsome monument,bearing the following inscription:--
_"Sanctissimae et charissimae conjugi ALISONAE HERIOT, Jacobi Primrosii,Regia Majestatis in Sanctiori Concilio Regni Scotia Amanuensis,filiae, fernina omnibus turn animi turn corporis dotibus, ac pio cultuinstructissimae, maestissimus ipsius maritus GEORGIUS HERIOT, ARMIGER,Regis, Reginae, Principum Henrici et Caroli Gemmarius, bene merenti, nonsine lachrymis, hoc Monumentum pie posuit.
"Obiit Mensis Aprilis die 16, anno salutis 1612, aetatis 20, inipso flore juventae, et mihi, parentibus, et amicis tristissimum suidesiderium reliquit.
Hic Alicia Primrosa Jacet crudo abruta fato, Intempestivas Ut rosa pressa manus. Nondum bisdenos Annorum impleverat orbes, Pulchra, pudica, Patris delicium atque viri: Quum gravida, heu! Nunquam Mater, decessit, et inde Cura dolorq: Patri, Cura dolorq: viro. Non sublata tamen Tantum translata recessit; Nunc Rosa prima Poli Quae fuit antea soli."_
The loss of a young, beautiful, and amiable partner, at a period sointeresting, was the probable reason of her husband devoting his fortuneto a charitable institution. The epitaph occurs in Strype's edition of_Stewe's Survey of London_, Book iii., page 228.
Note III. p. 39.--PROCLAMATION AGAINST THE SCOTS CO
MING TO ENGLAND
The English agreed in nothing more unanimously than in censuring Jameson account of the beggarly rabble which not only attended the King athis coming first out of Scotland, "but," says Osborne, "which, throughhis whole reign, like a fluent spring, were found still crossing theTweed." Yet it is certain, from the number of proclamations publishedby the Privy Council in Scotland, and bearing marks of the King'sown diction, that he was sensible of the whole inconveniences andunpopularity attending the importunate crowd of disrespectable suitors,and as desirous to get rid of them as his Southern subjects could be.But it was in vain that his Majesty argued with his Scottish subjects onthe disrespect they were bringing on their native country and sovereign,by causing the English to suppose there were no well-nurtured orindependent gentry in Scotland, they who presented themselves being, inthe opinion and conceit of all beholders, "but idle rascals, and poormiserable bodies." It was even in vain that the vessels which broughtup this unwelcome cargo of petitioners were threatened with fine andconfiscation; the undaunted suitors continued to press forward, and, asone of the proclamations says, many of them under pretence of requiringpayment of "auld debts due to them by the King," which, it is observedwith great _naivete_, "is, of all kinds of importunity, most unpleasingto his Majesty." The expressions in the text are selected from thesecurious proclamations.
NOTE IV. p. 59.--KING JAMES
The dress of this monarch, together with his personal appearance, isthus described by a contemporary:--
"He was of a middle stature, more corpulent through [i.e. by means of]his clothes than in his body, yet fat enough. His legs were very weak,having had, as was thought, some foul play in his youth, or ratherbefore he was born, that he was not able to stand at seven years of age.That weakness made him ever leaning on other men's shoulders. His walkwas even circular; his hands are in that walk ever fiddling about----[apart of dress now laid aside]. He would make a great deal too bold withGod in his passion, both with cursing and swearing, and a strain higherverging on blasphemy; but would, in his better temper, say, he hoped Godwould not impute them as sins, and lay them to his charge, seeing theyproceeded from passion. He had need of great assistance, rather thanhope, that would daily make thus bold with God."--DALZELL'S _Sketches ofScottish History _, p. 86.
NOTE V. p. 78.--SIR MUNGO MALAGROWTHER
It will perhaps be recognised by some of my countrymen, that the causticScottish knight, as described in the preceding chapter, borrowed some ofhis attributes from a most worthy and respectable baronet, who was to bemet with in Edinburgh society about twenty-five or thirty years ago. Itis not by any means to be inferred, that the living person resembled theimaginary one in the course of life ascribed to him, or in his personalattributes. But his fortune was little adequate to his rank and theantiquity of his family; and, to avenge himself of this disparity, theworthy baronet lost no opportunity of making the more avowed sons offortune feel the edge of his satire. This he had the art of disguisingunder the personal infirmity of deafness, and usually introduced hismost severe things by an affected mistake of what was said aroundhim. For example, at a public meeting of a certain county, this worthygentleman had chosen to display a laced coat, of such a pattern as hadnot been seen in society for the better part of a century. The young menwho were present amused themselves with rallying him on his taste,when he suddenly singled out one of the party:--"Auld d'ye think mycoat--auld-fashioned?--indeed it canna be new; but it was the wark of abraw tailor, and that was your grandfather, who was at the head of thetrade in Edinburgh about the beginning of last century." Upon anotheroccasion, when this type of Sir Mungo Malagrowther happened to hear anobleman, the high chief of one of those Border clans who were accusedof paying very little attention in ancient times to the distinctionsof _Meum_ and _Tuum,_ addressing a gentleman of the same name, asif conjecturing there should be some relationship between them, hevolunteered to ascertain the nature of the connexion by saying, thatthe "chief's ancestors had _stolen_ the cows, and the other gentleman'sancestors had _killed_ them,"--fame ascribing the origin of the latterfamily to a butcher. It may be well imagined, that among a people thathave been always punctilious about genealogy, such a person, who had ageneral acquaintance with all the flaws and specks in the shields of theproud, the pretending, and the nouveaux riches, must have had the samescope for amusement as a monkey in a china shop.
Note VI. p. 98.--MRS. ANNE TURNER
Mrs. Anne Turner was a dame somewhat of the occupation of Mrs.Suddlechop in the text; that is, half milliner half procuress, andsecret agent in all manner of proceedings. She was a trafficker in thepoisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury, for which so many subordinate agentslost their lives, while, to the great scandal of justice, the Earl ofSomerset and his Countess were suffered to escape, upon a threat ofSomerset to make public some secret which nearly affected his master,King James. Mrs. Turner introduced into England a French custom of usingyellow starch in getting up bands and cuffs, and, by Lord Coke's orders,she appeared in that fashion at the place of execution. She was thewidow of a physician, and had been eminently beautiful, as appears fromthe description of her in the poem called Overbury's Vision. There wasproduced in court a parcel of dolls or puppets belonging to this lady,some naked, some dressed, and which she used for exhibiting fashionsupon. But, greatly to the horror of the spectators, who accounted thesefigures to be magical devices, there was, on their being shown, "heard acrack from the scaffold, which caused great fear, tumult, and confusion,among the spectators and throughout the hall, every one fearing hurt, asif the devil had been present, and grown angry to have his workmanshipshowed to such as were not his own scholars." Compare this curiouspassage in the History of King James for the First Fourteen Years, 1651,with the Aulicus Coquinarius of Dr. Heylin. Both works are published inthe Secret History of King James.
Note VII. p. 110.--LORD HUNTINGLEN
The credit of having rescued James I. from the dagger of AlexanderRuthven, is here fictitiously ascribed to an imaginary Lord Huntinglen.In reality, as may be read in every history, his preserver was JohnRamsay, afterwards created Earl of Holderness, who stabbed the youngerRuthven with his dagger while he was struggling with the King. SirAnthony Weldon informs us, that, upon the annual return of the day, theKing's deliverance was commemorated by an anniversary feast. The timewas the fifth of August, "upon which," proceeds the satirical historian,"Sir John Ramsay, for his good service in that preservation, was theprincipal guest, and so did the King grant him any boon he would askthat day. But he had such limitation made to his asking, as made hissuit as unprofitable, as the action for which he asked it for wasunserviceable to the King."
Note VIII. p. 115.--BUCKINGHAM
Buckingham, who had a frankness in his high and irascible ambition,was always ready to bid defiance to those by whom he was thwarted oropposed. He aspired to be created Prince of Tipperary in Ireland, andLord High Constable of England. Coventry, then Lord Keeper, opposed whatseemed such an unreasonable extent of power as was annexed to the officeof Constable. On this opposition, according to Sir Anthony Weldon,"the Duke peremptorily accosted Coventry, 'Who made you Lord Keeper,Coventry?' He replied, 'The King.' Buckingham replied, 'It's false;'twas I did make you, and you shall know that I, who made you, can, andwill, unmake you.' Coventry thus answered him, 'Did I conceive thatI held my place by your favour, I would presently unmake myself, byrendering up the seals to his Majesty.' Then Buckingham, in a scorn andfury, flung from him, saying, 'You shall not keep it long;' and surely,had not Felton prevented him, he had made good his word."--WELDON'S_Court of King James and Charles._
Note IX. p. 134.--PAGES IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
About this time the ancient customs arising from the long prevalence ofchivalry, began to be grossly varied from the original purposes of theinstitution. None was more remarkable than the change which took placein the breeding and occupation of pages. This peculiar species of menialoriginally consisted of youths of noble birth, who, that they might betrained to the e
xercise of arms, were early removed from their paternalhomes, where too much indulgence might have been expected, to be placedin the family of some prince or man of rank and military renown, wherethey served, as it were, an apprenticeship to the duties of chivalryand courtesy. Their education was severely moral, and pursued with greatstrictness in respect to useful exercises, and what were deemed elegantaccomplishments. From being pages, they were advanced to the nextgradation of squires; from squires, these candidates for the honours ofknighthood were frequently made knights.
But in the sixteenth century the page had become, in many instances,a mere domestic, who sometimes, by the splendour of his address andappearance, was expected to make up in show for the absence of a wholeband of retainers with swords and bucklers. We have Sir John's authoritywhen he cashiers part of his train.
"Falstaff will learn the humour of the age, French thrift, you rogues, myself and skirted page."
Jonson, in a high tone of moral indignation, thus reprobated the change.The Host of the New Inn replies to Lord Lovel, who asks to have his sonfor a page, that he would, with his own hands hang him, sooner
"Than damn him to this desperate course of life. _LOVEL._ Call you that desperate, which, by a line Of institution, from our ancestors Hath been derived down to us, and received In a succession, for the noblest way Of brushing up our youth, in letters, arms, Fair mien, discourses civil, exercise, And all the blazon of a gentleman? Where can he learn to vault, to ride, to fence, To move his body gracefully, to speak The language pure, or to turn his mind Or manners more to the harmony of nature, Than in these nurseries of nobility? _HOST._ Ay, that was when the nursery's self was noble, And only virtue made it, not the market, That titles were not vended at the drum And common outcry; goodness gave the greatness, And greatness worship; every house became An academy, and those parts We see departed in the practice now Quite from the institution. _LOVEL._ Why do you say so, Or think so enviously? do they not still Learn us the Centaur's skill, the art of Thrace, To ride? or Pollux' mystery, to fence? The Pyrrhick gestures, both to stand and spring In armour; to be active for the wars; To study figures, numbers and proportions, May yield them great in counsels and the art; To make their English sweet upon their tongue? As reverend Chaucer says. _HOST._ Sir, you mistake; To play Sir Pandarus, my copy hath it, And carry messages to Madam Cressid; Instead of backing the brave steed o'mornings. To kiss the chambermaid, and for a leap O' the vaulting horse, to ply the vaulting house; For exercise of arms a bale of dice, And two or three packs of cards to show the cheat And nimbleness of hand; mistake a cloak From my lord's back, and pawn it; ease his pockets Of a superfluous watch, or geld a jewel Of an odd stone or so; twinge three or four buttons From off my lady's gown: These are the arts, Or seven liberal deadly sciences, Of pagery, or rather paganism, As the tides run; to which, if he apply him, He may, perhaps, take a degree at Tyburn, A year the earlier come to read a lecture Upon Aquinas, at Saint Thomas-a-Watering's And so go forth a laureate in hemp-circle." The New Inn, Act I.
Note X. p. 135.--LORD HENRY HOWARD
Lord Henry Howard was the second son of the poetical Earl of Surrey, andpossessed considerable parts and learning. He wrote, in the year 1583, abook called, _A Defensative against the Poison of supposed Prophecies._He gained the favour of Queen Elizabeth, by having, he says, directedhis battery against a sect of prophets and pretended soothsayers, whomhe accounted _infesti regibus,_ as he expresses it. In the last yearsof the Queen, he became James's most ardent partisan, and conductedwith great pedantry, but much intrigue, the correspondence betwixt theScottish King and the younger Cecil. Upon James's accession, he wascreated Earl of Northampton, and Lord Privy Seal. According to DeBeaumont the French Ambassador, Lord Henry Howard, was one of thegreatest flatterers and calumniators that ever lived.
Note XI. p. 136.--SKIRMISHES IN THE PUBLIC STREETS
Edinburgh appears to have been one of the most disorderly towns inEurope, during the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth century.The Diary of the honest citizen Birrel, repeatedly records suchincidents as the following: "The 24 of November (1567), at twoafternoon, the Laird of Airth and the Laird of Weems met on the HighGate of Edinburgh, and they and their followers fought a very bloodyskirmish, where there were many hurt on both sides with shot of pistol."These skirmishes also took place in London itself. In Shadwell's play of_The Scowrers,_ an old rake thus boasts of his early exploits:--"I knewthe Hectors, and before them the Muns, and the Tityretu's; they werebrave fellows indeed! In these days, a man could not go from the RoseGarden to the Piazza once, but he must venture his life twice, my dearSir Willie." But it appears that the affrays, which, in the Scottishcapital, arose out of hereditary quarrels and ancient feuds, werein London the growth of the licentiousness and arrogance of youngdebauchees.
Note XII. p. 144.--FRENCH COOKERY
The exertion of French ingenuity mentioned in the text is noticedby some authorities of the period; the siege of Leith was alsodistinguished by the protracted obstinacy of the besieged, in which wasdisplayed all that the age possessed of defensive war, so that Brantomerecords that those who witnessed this siege, had, from that verycircumstance, a degree of consequence yielded to their persons andopinions. He tells a story of Strozzi himself, from which it appearsthat his jests lay a good deal in the line of the cuisine. He caused amule to be stolen from one Brusquet, on whom he wished to play a trick,and served up the flesh of that unclean animal so well disguised, thatit passed with Brusquet for venison.
Note XIII. p. 145.--CUCKOO'S NEST
The quarrel in this chapter between the pretended captain and thecitizen of London, is taken from a burlesque poem called The CounterScuffle, that is, the Scuffle in the Prison at Wood street, so called.It is a piece of low humour, which had at the time very considerablevogue. The prisoners, it seems, had fallen into a dispute amongstthemselves "which calling was of most repute," and a lawyer put in hisclaim to be most highly considered. The man of war repelled his pretencewith much arrogance.
"'Wer't not for us, thou swad,' quoth he, 'Where wouldst thou fay to get a fee? But to defend such things as thee 'Tis pity; For such as you esteem us least, Who ever have been ready prest To guard you and your cuckoo's nest, The City'"
The offence is no sooner given than it is caught up by a gallantcitizen, a goldsmith, named Ellis.
"'Of London city I am free, And there I first my wife did see, And for that very cause,' said he, 'I love it.
And he that calls it cuckoo's nest, Except he say he speaks in jest, He is a villain and a beast,-- 'I'll prove it!
For though I am a man of trade, And free of London city made, Yet can I use gun, bill, and blade, In battle.
And citizens, if need require, Themselves can force the foe retire, Whatever this low country squire May prattle.'"
The dispute terminates in the scuffle, which is the subject of the poem.The whole may be found in the second edition of Dryden's _Miscellany,_12mo, vol. iii. 1716.
Note XIV. p. 150.--BURBAGE
Burbage, whom Camden terms another Roscius, was probably the originalrepresentative of Richard III., and seems to have been early almostidentified with his prototype. Bishop Corbet, in his Iter Boreale, tellsus that mine host of Market Bosworth was full of ale and history.
"Hear him, See you yon wood? there Richard lay With his whole army; look the other way, And lo, where Richmond, in a field of gorse, Encamp'd himself in might and all his force. Upon this hill they met. Why, he could tell The inch where Richmond stood, where Richard fell; Besides, what of his knowledge he could say, He had authentic notice from the play, Which I might guess by's mustering up the ghosts And policies not incident to hosts; But chiefly by that one perspicuous thing, Where he mistook a player for a
king, For when he would have said, that Richard died, And call'd, a horse! a horse! he Burbage cried."
RICHARD CORBET'S _Poems, Edition 1815,_ p. 193.
Note XV. p. 323.--MHIC-ALLASTAR-MORE
This is the Highland patronymic of the late gallant Chief of Glengarry.The allusion in the text is to an unnecessary alarm taken by some lady,at the ceremonial of the coronation of George IV., at the sight ofthe pistols which the Chief wore as a part of his Highland dress. Thecircumstance produced some confusion, which was talked of at the time.All who knew Glengarry (and the author knew him well) were aware thathis principles were of devoted loyalty to the person of his sovereign.
Note XVI. p. 323.--KING JAMES'S HUNTING BOTTLE
Roger Coke, in his Detection of the Court and State of England, London,1697, p.70, observes of James I., "The king was excessively addicted tohunting, and drinking, not ordinary French and Spanish wines, but strongGreek wines, and thought he would compound his hunting with these wines;and to that purpose, he was attended by a special officer, who was, asmuch as he could be, always at hand to fill the King's cup in huntingwhen he called for it. I have heard my father say, that, hunting withthe King, after the King had drank of the wine, he also drank of it; andthough he was young, and of a healthful disposition, it so derangedhis head that it spoiled his pleasure and disordered him for three daysafter. Whether it was from drinking these wines, or from some othercause, the King became so lazy and so unwieldy, that he was trussed onhorseback, and as he was set, so would he ride, without stirring himselfin the saddle; nay, when his hat was set upon his head he would not takethe trouble to alter it, but it sate as it was put on."
The trussing, for which the demipique saddle of the day affordedparticular facility, is alluded to in the text; and the author, amongother nickcnacks of antiquity, possesses a leathern flask, like thosecarried by sportsmen, which is labelled, "King James's Hunting Bottle,"with what authenticity is uncertain. Coke seems to have exaggerated theKing's taste for the bottle. Welldon says James was not intemperate inhis drinking; "However, in his old age, Buckingham's jovial suppers,when he had any turn to do with him, made him sometimes overtaken, whichhe would the next day remember, and repent with tears. It is true hedrank very often, which was rather out of a custom than any delight; andhis drinks were of that kind for strength, as Frontiniack, Canary, highcountry wine, tent wine, and Scottish ale, that had he not had a verystrong brain, he might have been daily overtaken, though he seldomdrank at any one time above four spoonfuls, many times not above one ortwo."--_Secret History of King James,_ vol. ii., p. 3. Edin. 1811.
Note XVII. p. 325.--SCENE IN GREENWICH PARK
I cannot here omit mentioning, that a painting of the old school is inexistence, having a remarkable resemblance to the scene described in theforegoing chapter, although it be nevertheless true that the similarityis in all respects casual, and that the author knew not of the existenceof the painting till it was sold, amongst others, with the followingdescription attached to it in a well-drawn-up catalogue:
"FREDERIGO ZUCCHERO _"Scene as represented in the Fortunes of Nigel, by FrederigoZucchero, the King's painter._
"This extraordinary picture, which, independent of its pictorial merit,has been esteemed a great literary curiosity, represents most faithfullythe meeting, in Greenwich Park, between King James and Nigel Oliphaunt,as described in the Fortunes of Nigel, showing that the author musthave taken the anecdote from authenticated facts. In the centre of thepicture sits King James on horseback, very erect and stiffly. Betweenthe King and Prince Charles, who is on the left of the picture, the Dukeof Buckingham is represented riding a black horse, and pointing eagerlytowards the culprit, Nigel Olifaunt, who is standing on the right sideof the picture. He grasps with his right hand a gun, or crossbow, andlooks angrily towards the King, who seems somewhat confused and alarmed.Behind Nigel, his servant is restraining two dogs which are barkingfiercely. Nigel and his servant are both clothed in red, the livery ofthe Oliphaunt family in which, to this day, the town-officers of Perthare clothed, there being an old charter, granting to the Oliphauntfamily, the privilege of dressing the public officers of Perth in theirlivery. The Duke of Buckingham is in all respects equal in magnificenceof dress to the King or the Prince. The only difference that is markedbetween him and royalty is, that his head is uncovered. The King and thePrince wear their hats. In Letitia Aikin's Memoirs of the Reign ofKing James, will be found a letter from Sir Thomas Howard to LordL. Harrington, in which he recommends the latter to come to court,mentioning that his Majesty has spoken favourably of him. He thenproceeds to give him some advice, by which he is likely to find favourin the King's eyes. He tells him to wear a bushy ruff, well starched;and after various other directions as to his dress, he concludes, 'butabove all things fail not to praise the roan jennet whereon the Kingdoth daily ride.' In this picture King James is represented on theidentical roan jennet. In the background of the picture are seen twoor three suspicious-looking figures, as if watching the success of someplot. These may have been put in by the painter, to flatter the King,by making it be supposed that he had actually escaped, or successfullycombated, some serious plot. The King is attended by a numerous band ofcourtiers and attendants, all of whom seem moving forward to arrestthe defaulter. The painting of this picture is extremely good, butthe drawing is very Gothic, and there is no attempt at the keeping ofperspective. The picture is very dark and obscure, which considerablyadds to the interest of the scene."
Note XVIII. p. 325.--KING JAMES'S TIMIDITY
The fears of James for his personal safety were often excited withoutserious grounds. On one occasion, having been induced to visit acoal-pit on the coast of Fife, he was conducted a little way under thesea, and brought to daylight again on a small island, or what was suchat full tide, down which a shaft had been sunk. James, who conceived hislife or liberty aimed at, when he found himself on an islet surroundedby the sea, instead of admiring, as his cicerone hoped, the unexpectedchange of scene, cried TREASON with all his might, and could not bepacified till he was rowed ashore. At Lockmaben he took an equallycauseless alarm from a still slighter circumstance. Some vendisses,a fish peculiar to the Loch, were presented to the royal table as adelicacy; but the King, who was not familiar with their appearance,concluded they were poisoned, and broke up the banquet "with mostadmired disorder."
Note XIX. p. 328.--TRAITOR'S GATE
Traitor's Gate, which opens from the Tower of London to the Thames, was,as its name implies, that by which persons accused of state offenceswere conveyed to their prison. When the tide is making, and the ancientgate is beheld from within the buildings, it used to be a most strikingpart of the old fortress; but it is now much injured in appearance,being half built up with masonry to support a steam-engine, or somethingof that sort.
Note XX. p. 361.--PUNISHMENT OF STUBBS BY MUTILATION
This execution, which so captivated the imagination of Sir MungoMalagrowther, was really a striking one. The criminal, a furious andbigoted Puritan, had published a book in very violent terms against thematch of Elizabeth with the Duke of Alencon, which he termed an union ofa daughter of God with a son of antichrist. Queen Elizabeth was greatlyincensed at the freedom assumed in this work, and caused the authorStubbs, with Page the publisher, and one Singleton the printer, tobe tried on an act passed by Philip and Mary against the writers anddispersers of seditious publications. They were convicted, and althoughthere was an opinion strongly entertained by the lawyers, that theact was only temporary, and expired with Queen Mary, Stubbs and Pagereceived sentence to have their right hands struck off. They accordinglysuffered the punishment, the wrist being divided by a cleaver driventhrough the joint by force of a mallet. The printer was pardoned. "Iremember," says the historian Camden, "being then present, that Stubbs,when his right hand was cut off, plucked off his hat with the left, andsaid, with a loud voice, 'God save the Queen!' The multitude standingabout was deeply silent, either out of horror of
this new and unwontedkind of punishment, or out of commiseration towards the man, as being ofan honest and unblamable repute, or else out of hatred to the marriage,which most men presaged would be the overthrow of religion."-CAMDBN'S_Annals for the Year_ 1581.
Note XXI. p. 375.--RlCHIE MONIPLIES BEHIND THE ARRAS
The practical jest of Richie Moniplies going behind the arras to get anopportunity of teasing Heriot, was a pleasantry such as James might besupposed to approve of. It was customary for those who knew his humourto contrive jests of this kind for his amusement. The celebrated ArchieArmstrong, and another jester called Drummond, mounted on other people'sbacks, used to charge each other like knights in the tilt-yard, to themonarch's great amusement. The following is an instance of the samekind, taken from Webster upon Witchcraft. The author is speaking of thefaculty called ventriloquism.
But to make this more plain and certain, we shall add a story of anotable impostor, or ventriloquist, from the testimony of Mr. Ady, whichwe have had confirmed from the mouth of some courtiers, that both sawand knew him, and is this:--It hath been (saith he) credibly reported,that there was a man in the court of King James his days, that could actthis imposture so lively, that he could call the King by name, and causethe King to look round about him, wondering who it was that called him,whereas he that called him stood before him in his presence, with hisface towards him. But after this imposture was known, the King, in hismerriment, would sometimes take occasionally this impostor to make sportupon some of his courtiers, as, for instance:--
"There was a knight belonging to the court, whom the King caused to comebefore him in his private room, (where no man was but the King, and thisknight and the impostor,) and feigned some occasion of serious discoursewith the knight; but when the King began to speak and the knight bendinghis attention to the King, suddenly there came a voice as out of anotherroom, calling the knight by name, 'Sir John, Sir John; come away,Sir John;' at which the knight began to frown that any man should beunmannerly as to molest the King and him; and still listening to theKing's discourse, the voice came again, 'Sir John, Sir John; come awayand drink off your sack.' At that Sir John began to swell with anger,and looked into the next room to see who it was that dared to call himso importunately, and could not find out who it was, and having chidwith whomsoever he found, he returned again to the King. The King had nosooner begun to speak as formerly, but the voice came again, 'Sir John,come away, your sack stayeth for you.' At that Sir John began to stampwith madness, and looked out and returned several times to the King, butcould not be quiet in his discourse with the King, because of the voicethat so often troubled him, till the king had sported enough."--WEBSTER_on Witchcraft_, p. 124.
Note XXII. p. 393.--LADY LAKE.
Whether out of a meddling propensity common to all who have a gossipingdisposition, or from the love of justice, which ought to make part of aprince's character, James was very fond of enquiring personally into thecauses _celebres_ which occurred during his reign. In the imposture ofthe Boy of Bilson, who pretended to be possessed, and of one RichardHaydock, a poor scholar, who pretended to preach during his sleep, theKing, to use the historian Wilson's expression, took delight insounding with the line of his understanding, the depths of these brutishimpositions, and in doing so, showed the acuteness with which he wasendowed by Nature. Lady Lake's story consisted in a clamorous complaintagainst the Countess of Exeter, whom she accused of a purpose to put todeath Lady Lake herself, and her daughter, Lady Ross, the wife of theCountess's own son-in-law, Lord Ross; and a forged letter was produced,in which Lady Exeter was made to acknowledge such a purpose. The accountgiven of the occasion of obtaining this letter, was, that it had beenwritten by the Countess at Wimbledon, in presence of Lady Lake and herdaughter, Lady Ross, being designed to procure their forgiveness for hermischievous intention. The King remained still unsatisfied, the writing,in his opinion, bearing some marks of forgery. Lady Lake and herdaughter then alleged, that, besides their own attestation, and that ofa confidential domestic, named Diego, in whose presence Lady Exeter hadwritten the confession, their story might also be supported by the oathof their waiting-maid, who had been placed behind the hangings at thetime the letter was written, and heard the Countess of Exeter read overthe confession after she had signed it. Determined to be at the bottomof this accusation, James, while hunting one day near Wimbledon, thescene of the alleged confession, suddenly left his sport, and,galloping hastily to Wimbledon, in order to examine personally theroom, discovered, from the size of the apartment, that the allegedconversation could not have taken place in the manner sworn to; and thatthe tapestry of the chamber, which had remained in the same state forthirty years, was too short by two feet, and, therefore, could not haveconcealed any one behind it. This matter was accounted an exclusivediscovery of the King by his own spirit of shrewd investigation. Theparties were punished in the Star Chamber by fine and imprisonment.
_A,' all. BELDAM, ugly old woman. ABYE, suffer for. BELIVE, by-and-by, presently. ACCIDENS, grammar. BENEVOLENCES, taxes illegally AIGRE, sour, ill-natured. exacted by the Kings of AIN GATE, own way. England. A' LEEVING, all living. BIDE, keep, remain. AMBLE, a peculiar gait of a BIELDY BIT, sheltered spot. horse, in which both legs on BIGGING, building. one side are moved forward BILBOE, sword, rapier. at the same time. BILLIES, brothers. ANCE, once. BIRKIE, lively young fellow. ANENT, concerning. BLACK-JACK, leathern drinking- ANGEL, an ancient English gold cup. coin, worth about 10s., and BLADES, dashing fellows, rakes. bearing the figure of an angel. BLATE, modest, bashful. ARRAS, tapestry. BLETHERING, foolish, silly. AUGHT, owe. BLITHE, BLYTHE, glad. AULD, old. BLUE-COATS, lackeys. AULD REEKIE, Edinburgh, in BODDLE, a copper coin, value allusion to its smoke. the sixth part of an English AVISEMENT, counsel. penny. AW, all. BODE, bid, offer. AWMOUS, alms, a gift. BOOKIE, book. BRAE, hill, hill-side. BANGED, sprang, bounded. BRAVE PIECE, fine thing. BARNACLES, spectacles. BRAW, fine, handsome. BARNS-BREAKING, idle frolics. BREAKING, kneading. BAWBEE, halfpenny. BREEKS, breeches, trousers. BAXTER, baker. BROCHES, kitchen spits. BEAR-BANNOCKS, barley cakes. BROSE, pottage of mean and BECKING, curtseying. water. BECKS, nods. BROWNIE, domestic goblin. BEECHEN BICKERS, dishes of BUCKET, cheat. beechwood. BUNEMOST, uppermost.
BURROWS-TOWN, borough-town. BUSS, kiss.
CALF-WARD, place where calves are kept in the field. CALLAN, CALLANT, lad. CANNILY, cautiously, skilfully. CANNY, quiet. CANTLE, crown of the head. CARCANET, necklace. CARLE, fellow. CARLE-HEMPIE, the strongest stalk of hemp. CARNIFEX, executioner. CAUFF, chaff. CAULDRIFE, chilly. CA'T, call it. CAUP, cup. CAUSEY, pavement. CERTIE, faith, in truth. CHALMER, chamber. CHANGE-HOUSE, roadside inn where horses are changed on a journey. CHALK, slash. CHAPPIT, struck. CHEEK-BY-JOWL, CHEEK-BY-CHOWL, side by side. CHEERY, dagger. CHENZIE-MAIL, chain-mail. CHIELD, fellow. CHOPINES, high shoes or clogs. CHUCKS, chuck-stones, as played by children. CHUFFS, clowns, simpletons. CLAITHING, clothing.
CLAPPED LOOFS, crossed palms. CLATTER-TRAPS, rattle-traps. CLAUGHT, snatched. CLAVERING, idle talking. CLEEK, hook. CLEW, clue. CLOOT, hoof. CLOUR, blow. CLOUTING, mending. COCK-A-LEEKIE, COCK-A-LEEKY, leek soup in which a cock has been boiled. COIF, linen covering for the head. COMPLOTS, plots, intrigues. COMPT, list, account, particulars. COMPTING-ROOM, counting-house. COSHERING, being familiar and intimate. COUP, barter. COUP THE CRANS, go to wreck and ruin. COUPIT, tumbled. CRAIG, rock; also neck. CRAP, creep. CRAW'D SAE CROUSE, crowe
d so proudly. CULLY, one easily deceived, a dupe. CURN, grain. CUSSER, stallion. CUTTY-QUEAN, a loose woman.
DAFT, silly, mad. DAIKERING, jogging or toiling along. DANG, driven, knocked. DEIL, devil. DEUTEROSCOPY, a meaning beyond the original sense. DIDNA, did not. DIKE-LOUPER, a debauchee. DIRDUM, uproar, tumult. DIRKED, stabbed with a dirk. DONNERIT, stupefied. DOOMS, very, absolutely. DOUCE, quiet, respectable, sober. DOVER, neither asleep nor awake. DOWCOT, dove-cote. DRAB, illicit sexual intercourse. DRAFF, drains given to cows; also the wash given to pigs. DRAFF-POKE, bag of grains. DREDGING-BOX, a box with holes for sprinkling flour in cookery. DROUTHY, thirsty. DUD, rag. DUKE OF EXETER'S DAUGHTER, a species of rack in the Tower of London. DULE-WEEDS, mourning. DUMMALAFONG, a common prey to all comers. DUNTS, blows.
EARD, earth. EEN, eyes. ELRITCH, hideous. ENOW, just now. ENSAMPLE, example. EVITED, avoided. EXIES, hysterics.
FALCHION, a short broadsword with a slightly curved point. FALSET, falsehood. FAUSE, false. FASH, trouble. FASHIOUS, troublesome, annoying. FENCE-LOUPER, rakish fellow. FEBRIFUGE, a medicine to subdue a fever. FIDUCIARY, trustee. FLATCAPS, citizens, civilians. FLEECHING, flattering. FOOD FOR FAGGOTS, martyrs for their religious opinions. FOOT-CLOTH, horse-cloth reaching almost to the ground. FOUARTS, house-leeks. FOULWART, pole-cat. FRAE, from. FRESCO, half-naked. FULE, fool. FULHAM, loaded dice.
GAGE, pledge, trust. GANG A' AE GATE, go all one way. GAR, make, force. GARR'D, made, compelled. GATE, way, road; also kind of. GEAR, property. GIFF-GAFF, give and take, tit for tat. GIE THE GLAIKS, to befool, deceive. GILLIE-WHITE-FOOT, running footman. GILLRAVAGER, plunderer. GIRNED, grinned. GLAIKS, deception. GLEED, awry, all wrong. GOUD-COUK, fool. GRAFFS, graves. GRAMERCY, great thanks. GRANDAM, old woman, grandmother. GRAT, cried. GREEN GEESE, parrots. GREET, cry. GREW, shudder. GRIPS, handshakings, greetings. GROSART, GROSSART, goose-berry. GULL, one easily befooled, GULLEY, large knife. GUTTERBLOOD, one meanly bred. GYNOCRACY, petticoat government.
HAET, thing. HAFFITS, sides of the head. HAFT, handle. HAIRBOURED, resided, sojourned. HAMESUCKEN, assaulting a man on his own premises. HANKED, coiled. HARLE, drag, trail. HARMAN BECK, constable. HEART-SCALD, disgust. HEAD-TIRE, head-dress. HECK AND MANGER, in comfortable quarters. HEUGHS, glens. HIRDIE-GIRDIE, topsy-turvy. HIRPLING, limping, walking lame. HIRSEL, flock. HORSE-GRAITH, harness. HOUGHS, hollows. HOWFF, rendezvous, place of resort.
ILK ANE, each one. ILL, bad. ILL REDD-UP, very untidy. ILL-WILLY, ill-natured. INGINE, ingenuity. INGOTS, masses of unwrought metal. INGRATE, an ungrateful person. IRON CARLES, iron figures of men.
JAW, wave. JEDDART-STAFF, a species of battle-axe peculiar to Jedburgh. JENNET, a small Spanish horse. JINGLE, dance. JOUP, dip, stoop down.
KEMPING, strife. KENNING, knowledge. KIMMER, gossip, neighbour. KIRK, church. KITTLE, ticklish, difficult, precarious. KYTHED, seemed, appeared.
LAIGH, low. LAIR, learning. LAMB'S-WOOL, a beverage made of the pulp of roasted apples. LANDLOUPER, adventurer, runagate. LANG SYNE, long ago. LATTEN, plated iron or brass. LAVROCK, lark. LEASING-MAKING, uttering treasonable language. LEASINGS, falsehoods, treason. LEGLIN-GIRTH, the lowest hoop on a leglin, or milk-pail. LICK, a beating. LIEFEST, most beloved. LIFT, steal. LIGHT O' LOVE, mistress, wanton woman. LINKBOYS, juvenile torch-bearers. LIST, like. LITHER, soft. LOOF, palm of the hand. LOON, LOUN, rascal. LOUPING, leaping. LUG, LUGG, ear. LUVE, love.
MAIR THAN ANCE, more than once. MARLE, wonder, marvel. MAGGOT, whim, fancy. MELL, intermeddle. MENSEFUL, modest, mannerly. MERK, a Scottish coin, value 13s 4d. MESS-BOOK, mass-book, Catholic prayer-book. MICKLE, MUCKLE, much, great, large. MINT, attempt. MIRK, dark. MISLEARD, unmannerly. MORT-CLOTH, shroud. MOTION, puppet-show. MUCKLE v. MICKLE. MUFFLED, disguised. MUSKETOON, a species of musket. MY GERTIE, my goodness! gracious!
NEB, nose, point. NEEDSNA, need not. NICHER, snigger. NICKS, notches. NIFFER, exchange. NOBLE, a gold coin, value 6s. 8d. sterling. NOWTE, black cattle. NUNCHION, luncheon, food taken between meals.
OR, before. OTHER GATE, other kind of. OWER SICKER, too careful.
PAIK, fight, chastise. PANGED, crammed. PAPISTRIE, Popery. PEASE-BOGLE, scarecrow among the pease growing. PENNY-WEDDING, a wedding where all who attend contribute a trifle towards the expenses of the merrymaking. PICKTHANK, a parasitical informer. PIG, earthen pot, vessel, or pitcher. PINK, stab, pierce holes into. PLACK, a copper coin, value the third part of an English penny. PLOY, trick. POCK-END, empty pocket or purse. POCK-PUDDING, bag pudding. POORTITH, poverty. PORK-GRISKINS, sucking-pigs; also broiled loin of pork. POUCH, pocket. PRIE, taste. PULLET, a young hen.
QUEAN, wench, young woman.
RAMPALLIONS, low women. RAVE, tore. RAXING, stretching. REDDING-KAME, hair-comb. REDD-UP, tidy, put in order. RED WUD, stark mad. REIRD, shouting. REMEID, resource, remedy. ROOPIT, croupy, hoarse. ROSE-NOBLE, a gold coin, value 6s. 8d., impressed with a rose. ROUT, ROWT, to roar or bellow. RUDAS, wild, forward, bold.
SAAM, same. SACK, sherry or canary wine, warmed and spiced. SACKLESS, innocent. SCAT, tribute, tax. SCAUDING, scalding. SCAUR, scare, frighten. SCLATE-STANE, slate-stone. SCRIVENER, one who draws up contracts. SHABBLE, cutlass, SHOON, shoes. SHOUTHER, shoulder. SHULE, shovel. SIB, related. SIBYL, prophetess. SICKER, careful. SICLIKE, just so. SILLER, money, silver. SIRRAH, sir! SKEIGH, skittish. SKELDER, plunder, snatch. SLEEVELESS, thriftless. SMAIK, mean, paltry fellow. SNAP-HAUNCHES, firelocks. SPANG, spring. SPEER, ask. SPEERINGS, information, inquiries. SPRAIKLE, to get on with difficulty. SPUNK, slip. SPUNKIES, will-o'-the-wisps. STEEKING, closing. STEEKIT, shut. STONERN, stone. STOT, a bullock between two and three years old. STRAND-SCOURING, gutter-raking. STURDIED, afflicted with the sturdy, a sheep disease. STYPIC, astringent, something to arrest haemorrhage. SUCCORY-WATER, sugar water. SUNDOWN, sunset. SUNER, sooner. SUMPTER HORSE, pack-horse. SWITH, begone! be off! SYNE, ago.
TAIT, lock. TANE, the one. TAWSE, leather strap used for chastisement. TEINDS, tithes. THROUGH-STANES, gravestones. TIKE v. TYKE. TINT, lost. TITHER, the other. TOCHER, dowry. TOOM, empty. TOUR, see. TOUT, blast on the horn. TOYS, goods. TREEN, wooden. TROTH, truth. TROW, believe, guess. TRYSTE, appointment. TURN-BROCHE, turn-spit. TYKE, TIKE, dog, cur. TWA, two. TWIRING, coquetting, making eyes at.
UMQUHILE, late, deceased.
VIVERS, victuals.
WAD, pledge. WADNA, would not. WADSET, mortgage. WANION, misfortune. WARE, spend. WARLOCKS, wizards. WASTRIFE, waste, extravagance. WAUR, worse. WEEL KEND, well known. WHA, who. WHEEN, few, a number of. WHIGMALEERY, trinkets, nicknacks. WHILK, which. WHINGER, cutlass, long knife. WHINYARD, sword. WHOMBLE, upset. WIMPLED, wrapped up. WINNA, will not. WITHY, gallows rope. WOO', wool. WYLIE-COAT, under-petticoat. WYND, street, alley. WYTE, blame.
YESTREEN, last night.
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