1251.

"The body of Margaret Queen of Scotland was removed from its place of fepulture at Dunfermline, and depofited in a costly shrine *. While the monks were employed in this fervice, they approached the tomb of her husband Malcolm t. The body became, on a fudden, fo heavy, that they were obliged to fet it down. Still, as more hands were employed in raifing it, the body became heavier: The spectators stood amazed; and the humble monks imputed this phænomenon to their own unworthinefs, when a by-ftander cried out, • the queen ⚫ will not ftir till equal honours are performed to her husband,' This having been done, the body of the queen was removed with ease. A more aukward miracle occurs not in legendary hiftory 1.-Ford. x. 23. -Aa. S S. 10. June 320.,

1258.

"At this time, flaves and their children were conveyed from one master to another, in the fame manner that sheep and horfes are now, and that, not together with lands, but even without lands §.—Chart. Inchaf. 36.

1285.

"At a ball, given on the occafion of the nuptials of Alexander III. at Jedwod, [Jedburgh] a ghost, or something like a ghost, danced ||.

The breviary of Aberdeen ascertains the 19th of June 1251, as the date of this event. It has preferved the collect used in commemoration of the ceremony. Deus nobis qui tranflationem B. Margaritae Reginae piâ recolimus mente, praeclaris potentiae tuae miraculis illuftratam, concede propitius ipfius meritis et interceffione, a labore ad requiem, ab exilio ad patriam nos conferri coeleftem. See Aña Sanctorum, 10 June, p. 320. The petition is elegant and affecting; yet it is hard to say how it should be applicable to the removing of the bones of Margaret into a more honourable place in the church of Dunfermline.

The Scots fay, that the body of Malcolm was removed from Tinmouth to Dunfermline by Alexander I; Fordun, 1. v. c. 25. But the English deny this, and report that, when the Scots haughtily demanded the body of their King, that of a peafant was impofed upon them. Scotis tamen poftea corpus fui Regis frontosè poftulantibus, conceffum eft et datum corpus cujufdam plebeii de Sethtune; et ita delufa eft Scotorum improbitas;' M. Paris, additamenta, p. 129.

I am informed, that at Paris, in our enlightened age, the bones of St. Genevieve fhew the like attention to the bones of St. Marcel.

་

Malife Earl of Strathern, granted to the monks of Inchaffry [infula Missarum in Strathern,] in pura et perpetua eleemofyna, Gilmory Gillendes fervum noftrum cum tota fequela fua: Et nos et haeredes noftri diétum Gilmory Gillendes, ut fupra dictum eft, dictis ecclefiae et canonicis warrantizabimus in perpetuum. Ap. Kenmore, die Annunciationis beatae Mariae Virginis, anno Dominicae incarnationis 1258. He also granted to the fame monks, Pro falute animae meae et antecefforum et fuccefforum meorum-in pura et perpetua eleemofyna, Johannem dictum Starnes, filium Thomae filium Thore, cum tota fequela fua. Concedo, et pro me et haeredibus meis, in perpetuum ipfis abbati et conventui omne jus et clameum quod ego in eodem Johanne vel prole ab ipfo fufcitata habeo vel habere potero, aut haeredes mei in pofterum habere poterunt. Prohibeo etiam omnibus hominibus meis, ne aliquis eorum dicto Johanni vel alicui proli fuae moleftiam aut gravamen aut aliquod impedimentum inferre praefumet. 7. Id. Maii, an. 1258.' I was permitted to perufe this Chartulary by a perfon who chofe to conceal himfelf. As the Chartulary, of Inchaffry has remained fo long unknown, it is poffible that other chartularies, which have hitherto escaped obfervation, may ftill exift. If the poffeffors of any fuch would be pleased to communicate them to me in confidence, I should hold it as a fingular favour.

• Infecutus eft unus, do quo pene dubitari potuit utrum homo effet an phantafma; qui ut umbra magis labi videbatur, quam pedetentim tranfire;' Fordan, 1. x. c. 40.

Воесе

Boece exprefsly fays, that it was a skeleton. A foolish pleafantry to frighten the court ladies, or a pious monaftic fraud, to check the growth of promifcuous dancing, probably gave rife to the exhibition of this harlequin skeleton.-Ford. x. 40. Boece, xi. 292. a.

1304.

"Edward I. ftript the whole lead off the monaftery of St. Andrew's, for conftructing the machines employed in the fiege of Stirling. It was a very ancient practice to throw leaden bullets from catapultae ; here, however, I imagine, that the lead was used as a counterpoife.Ford. xii. 4. Dan, Milice Francoife, i. 62.

"Boece, ever improving on history, fays, that the roof of the monaftery was of copper.' He adds, that Edward carried it away for ⚫fome purpose or other 1.-Boece xiv. 297. b.

"To this period must be referred the taking of the castle of Urquhart, where Edward murdered every person in it, except the wife of Alexander Bois, the lord of the caftle: She was pregnant at the time; : and the English had a religious fcruple at killing a child before its birth. The child, fo wonderfully preferved, in due time proved a boy. Having flain a mighty bear that infefted the country, he received the appellation of For-beaft; afterwards this came to be pronounced corruptedly Forbes. Boece, and many a tranfcriber from him, relate this story with the utmost gravity of hiftorical narrative §. Boece, xiv. 298. a.

"In this year the monks of Aberbrothock entered into a contract with the bishop of Brechin, importing, that the bishop should not augment the penfion of any vicar beyond ten pounds fterling.-Ch. Aberbroth. i. 21.

1305.

"An English hermit faw a vifion of angels conducting Wallace out of purgatory with much honour. But this, fays Boece, is regarded by most men rather as a dream, or an old woman's tale, than as a real event |. Here he inadvertently delineates the character of his own hiftory.---Ford. xii. 8. Boece, xiv. 299. a.”

After thefe Mifcellaneous Oecurrences follows an Appendix, of which our author speaks thus :

"Some of the notes which I had prepared to the Annals of Scotland were fo long, that it became impracticable to range them with the reft

Effigies hominis mortui, carne nudatis ejus offibus, vifa eft;' Bocce, 1. xiii. fol. 292. a.

+Ad machinas conftruendas;' Fordun, 1. xii. c. 4.

In fuos, nefcio quos, ufus;' Boece, 1. xiv. fol. 297. b.

Martin, Geneological Collections, vol. ii. p. 17. fays, that one Salvathius Forbes married Moravilla, daughter of Gregory the Great, King of Scotland, about 870, and that all the Forbes's in Scotland are defcended from him. But Nibet, vol. i. P. 317. fays, that Achonacher, an Irishman of quality, flew a monstrous wild-bear, and from that event took the name of For-bear, and that be was the ancestor of the Forbes's. There is a confufion here of boars and bears, which I will not pretend to unravel. Sir Thomas Urquhart, in one of his rhapsodies, fays, that Phorbas, Greek, was the ancestor of the family; and that, as frequently happens, the appellative became a furname,

Somnii aut anilis fabulae fimiliora quam verae historiae plerifque cenfentur ;' Bocce, 1. xiv. fol. 299. a.

in their proper places. I have therefore fubjoined them here, in the form of differtations."

The first article under this title is exceedingly curious. It relates to the law of one Evenus king of Scotland, (whofe existence is founded on the doubtful authority of Boece) and the Mercheta Mulierum; on which topic our author fays, "One would be apt to imagine that the learned had confpired to write abfurdly on the fubject." Their imagined abfurdities this learned writer has taken much pains to expofe and explode; in a manner however that would not entertain the generality of our readers; and for which he apologizes for the medley of languages, which he employs on the occafion, by faying, "The truth is, that I meant to convey my fentiments to the learned, without being intelligible to common readers."

How far this apology, which our author flatters himself will be an excufe for him, will be fuch for us, Reviewers, we prefume not to fuppofe; we may, nevertheless, without departing from the delicacy, true or falfe of our author, copy his tranflation of Van Loon's obfervations, concerning het recht des eerften nachts *, which he not only declares to be learned and ingenious, but affirms to be a fatisfactory account,

"Van Loon, a late antiquary of Holland, has made fome obfervations concerning the jus primae noctis, which appear to be learned and ingenious. His words are, As mention has been made of the tribute paid by the ferfs to their masters for permiffion to marry, it will not be foreign from the subject, if we now treat of the redemption paid for the jus primae noctis, which is called by the French le droit de cullage t, and with us het recht des eerften nachts, and is known in the ⚫ lord hips of Vofhol, Schegen, Sluipwyck, and Rhoon, as alfo in many places of Germany, England, and Scotland.'---Beschryving der aloude Regeeringwyze van Holand, iii. 164, &c.

"Here Van Loon fuppofes that the mercheta was paid for redemption of the jus primae no&tis. After having mentioned the law of Evenus as related by Bocce, and its fuppofed repeal about the 12th century, he adds, In the like fenfe, many of our writers underftand the recht van den eerften nacht; not however in confequence of this foreign ordinance; for, of what force could the ordinance of a Scottish king be among the Frifons? But they reprefent it as a remnant of Paganism, which, on the introduction of chriftianity, was commuted ་ into a payment of a certain fum of money.

Although, at first fight, this account of the origin of an antient lewd cuftom, may appear fpecious; yet I muft fairly acknowledge,

The privilege of the first nights.-This privilege, however, was not peculiar to Scotland and Holland, but, as we learn from hiftory, was common in England, France, and in other parts of Europe.

+ Culagium tributum a fubditis matrimonio jungendis domino exfolvendum. Gall. Cullage. Adde, eodem nomine, varie tamen pronunciato, vocabunt munus in cibis vino vel pecunia exhibendum a recens nupto fociis;' Carpentier, fuppl. ad GoT. Lu Cange. The laft words are remarkable, as they tend to confirm an observation which Van Loon makes in the sequel.

⚫ that

that the very existence of fuch a cuftom among the Pagan Frisons, feems altogether conjectural, and without any warrant from antiquity. I therefore think, that fuch an hypothefis ought not to be 'implicitly received; and this the rather, because it is contrary to every thing that Tacitus has written concerning the manners of the 'ancient Germans. He fays, that adulteries were rare among those 'people, and were feverely punished; and that the innate challity of the Germans contributed more to the preventing of wantonnefs, than the most rigorous fanctions of the Roman laws.'

groves, va

"Thus alfo, in the fermons preached by Boniface in this country, ⚫ for the converfion of the Frifons, the worship in facred rious other heathenifh fuperftitions and lafcivioufnefs in general, are cenfured; but we do not find that the abufe in question is ever mentioned, although it merited efpecial cenfure.

"Befides, although the laws of the Frifons mention various punishments inflicted on lewdnefs, as well in the cafe of freemen as of • bondmen, there is not any veftige of a redemption of this nature to be found in them.

"I fhould wish to know by whom this redemption was exacted • during the reigns of the kings of the Franks. Certainly not by the • princes themselves, far lefs by the lords of feignories; for, at that time, there were no lordships of feignories in this country; neither could it be by the hundred men, [centenarii]: for they, in the fame manner as the counts, [Graven, cr comites], were bound to judge, not according to their own pleasure, or arbitrarily, but partly by the laws of the Frifons, partly by the common law, or the capitula ⚫ of the Frank kings.'

"It appears to me, that this redemption of the recht van den eerften ⚫ nacht, must be derived from a very different fource. In the fourth council of Carthage, held in the year 398, it was ordained, that all new-married perfons, out of refpect for the facerdotal benediction, eâdem nocte in virginitate permaneant. This fpecies of continency was not only enforced by the general conftitutions of the kings of the Franks, but also prolonged for three nights, after the example of Tobias, that the bridegroom might employ that interval in prayer, with this charge, that the bride fhould remain in the mean time under the cuftody of her attendants, and only after the expiration of ⚫ the three nights fhould be delivered over to the fociety of the bridegroom. Nevertheless, when, about the beginning of the 12th century, the office of judges in the tribunal of a hundred [centenae] had ⚫ become hereditary, inftead of elective, as in the days of the kings of the Franks; and when, in the following century, the jurifdiction ⚫ of the counts [Graven] became feudal, the ancient conftitutions of thofe kings, touching the abftinence for three nights, &c. were neglected by the new lords of the country; and, if they were not totally abolished, at leaft the redemption of this inconvenient custom was permitted; just as in Brabant at this day, perfons newly betrothed are permitted to purchase an exemption from having their bans thrice proclaimed. It is of fuch a fort of redemption, that I ⚫ think the recht van den eerft nacht ought to be understood.

There is an old cuftom, probably arifing from the fame caufe,

* and

• and which still fubfifts among our peasants; by it, on payment of ⚫ dinner of fish, or any thing elfe, the attendants on the bride fell and ⚫ deliver her over to the bridegroom.'

"Were it neceffary, more obfervations might be added on this fubject; but I apprehend, that enough has been already said to explain the nature of the jus primae noctis, as well as of the mercheta.

"I cannot, however, omit mentioning a remark made by Mr. Bayle. This fubject fuited his tafte; it afforded him an opportunity of quoting books that are little known, of ufing grofs language, and of representing man in odious colours. Having mentioned that the house of Rovere in Piedmont had a ftrange privilege, he fubjoins this note: • C'etoit un droit de pucelage des filles que leurs vaffaux epoufoient. • Un Cardinal de cette maifon jetta dans le feu la patente de ce privilege. Cotal coftume l'auteur venoit de parler de celle que Malcolm [Evenus] Roi d'Efcoffe avoit etablie, cotal coftume de Pagani et de • Gentili fu gia in Piemonte, et il Cardinale illuftriffimo Hieronimo della • Rovere mi diceva haver egli ftesso abbrucciato il privilegio che haveva di cio la fua cafa; ces paroles font d'un auteur qui vivoit au commencement du xvii. fiecle;' Bonifaccio Vannozzi avertimenti politici, tom. ii. p. 253. Bayle, diet. v. Sixte iv. rem. H.

"Since the well-meaning cardinal thought fit to burn the grant, we may be allowed to doubt of its contents, until fome other evidence of them fhall appear. It is probable, that he imagined that to be a lewd and flagitious privilege, which in the courfe of this differtation, has appeared to have been of a nature altogether inoffenfive.

"Bayle adds, Monfieur Pars Minifter de Katwic raconte, dans un ouvrage Flamand, intitulé Katwyke oudheden, c'eft a dire antiquitéz • de Katowic, p. 196. que certains feignures de Hollande, il en nomme quelques uns, ont eu un femblable privilege, et que les etats l'ont abolí en leur donnant quelque argent.'

"I have had no opportunity of confulting the treatise here quoted'; but I fee that Van Loon has gone over the fame ground; and I prefume, that the lords, who are faid by Pars to have enjoyed this privilege, were the lords of Vofhol, Shegen, Sluipwyck, and Rhoon, of whofe recht van den eerften nacht Van Loon has given a fatisfactory

account."

Of thefe differtations our author has given us eight, the laft of which treats" Of the origin of the houfe of STEWART ;" which he deduces from a certain Princefs of Denmark, who was got with child by a bear, whofe fon was called Bern, and naturally enough had ears like a bear. But for this curious genealogy, we must refer our readers to the work itself.

We come next to tables, fhewing the fucceffion of the kings of Scotland, from Malcolm III. to Robert I. Their marriages, children, and the time of their death; and also, the kings of England, France, and the Popes, who were their contemporaries.

To these tables are added a chronological abridgment of events, ferving as an Index to the whole.

We should here take our leave of this erudite and inquifitive

annalist,