AUTHOR OF
"THE ROMANCE OF WAR," "HARRY OGILVIE," "OLIVER ELLIS,"
ETC. ETC.
LONDON:
ROUTLEDGE, WARNE, & ROUTLEDGE,
FARRINGDON STREET,
NEW YORK: 56, WALKER STREET.
1862.
Many of the scenes and episodes which are delineated in the followingstory are taken from the annals of Scotland.
Those which belong to romance I leave the reader to discover.
My wish has been to portray the state of the nation and its peopleduring the reign of the second James, without afflicting the readerby obsolete words and obscure dialects, which few now care about, andstill fewer would comprehend, but following history as closely as thenetwork of my own narrative would permit.
In some of the proceedings of the Douglas family, and minor details, ithas suited my purpose to adhere to other sources of information, ratherthan the "Peerage," or the folio of Master David Hume, of Godscroft,the quaint old historian of the House of Douglas.
March, 1862.
God save the king, and bless the land
In plenty, joy, and peace;
And grant henceforth that foul debate
'Twixt noblemen may cease.—Chevy Chase.
On the evening of the 22nd November, 1440, the report of a brasscarthoun, or cannon-royale, as it pealed from the castle of Edinburgh,made all who were in the thoroughfares below raise their eyes to thegrey ramparts, where the white smoke was seen floating away from thesummit of King David's Tower, and then people were seen hasteningtowards the southern side of the city, where the quaint old streets andnarrow alleys opened into the fields, or the oakwoods of Bristo andDrumsheugh.
Crowds from all quarters pressed towards the Pleasance, the routeby which the great earl of Douglas (duke of Touraine and lord ofLongoville), who had been invited to visit the young king, was expectedto enter the city. Curiosity was excited, as it was anticipated thathis train would be a brilliant one. All in the secluded metropolis ofthe north were on tiptoe to behold a sight such as they had not beengratified with since the ambassadors of Amadeus VIII., duke of Savoy,had come to ask the hand of the king's little sister, Annabella, forhis son, the valiant Louis Count de Maurienne, to whom, however, shepreferred a Scottish earl, with a Scottish home, on the bonnie banks ofthe Clyde.
The boom of the same cannon brought to the bartizan of the great towerwhereon it stood four armed men, who immediately turned their eyestowards the south.
Two of these were men well up in years. They wore furred caps ofmaintenance, denoting their high rank or position, and had long crimsonrobes, with capes of ermine that fell to their elbows. Beneath theseflowing garments there glittered at times their steel habergeons, andthe embroidered belts which sustained their swords.
One was a man of a tall figure and noble presence, with a long, grave,and pleasing face.
The other was equally noble in bearing, but his face was less pleasingin expression, for his temples were hollow, his eyes keen, his browsknit, and there played about his thin, cruel lips a crafty but courtlysmile.
"Summon Romanno, the constable; bid him display the king'sstandard—call the garrison to their arms—shut gates and barriers,"were the orders given rapidly by both at the same moment.
T