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Three Poets of the Scottish Reformation: Alexander Cunningham, Fifth Earl of Glencairn, Henry Balnaves of Halhill, and John Davidson, Minister At Prestonpans.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2009

Charles Rogers
Affiliation:
Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and Corresponding Member of the Historical Society of New England

Extract

The Earl of Glencairn, Henry Balnaves and John Davidson merit commemoration apart from their poetry. While denouncing in a poetical pasquinade the illegal traffic of the Church of Rome, Lord Glencairn protested against the rapacity of the Reforming nobles. As a statesman he rendered invaluable aid to the Protestant cause by resisting the attempts of Mary of Guise to check the spread of the Reformed doctrines. In opposing the efforts of Queen Mary to crush the Reformed preachers, and in supporting her dethronement, he occupied a foremost place. He conspicuously upheld the government of the infant King James.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Historical Society 1874

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References

page 164 note * The Scottish Gallery, or Portraits of eminent persons of Scotland, by Pinkerton, John. London, 1799, 8voGoogle Scholar.

page 165 note * Sir Ralph Saddler's State Papers, edited by Sir Walter Scott, vol. i., p. 82.

page 166 note * This proclamation is dated 19th March, 1543.—Knox's, History of the Reformation,” Edinb., 1846, 8vo., vol. i., p. 240Google Scholar.

page 166 note † Knox's History, vol. i., p. 237–250.

page 167 note * Knox's History, vol. i., p. 273.

page 168 note * The city of Perth was formerly so called.

page 168 note † Knox's History, vol. i., p. 335.

page 169 note * Tytler's History of Scotland, vol. vii., p 297.

page 169 note † Reg. Secreti Concilii, 24th November, 1572.

page 169 note ‡ Edinburgh Commissariat Register, vol. iii.

page 170 note * The Rev. John Porterfield experienced the warm support and countenance of the Earl of Glencairn. He was, in 1564, appointed first Reformed Minister at Dumbarton, but was “banished” from that charge sometime prior to December, 1568, when Lord Glencairn applied to the General Assembly to provide him with another charge. In 1567 he began to minister at Kilmaronock, holding with that charge the vicarage of Ardrossan. He afterwards applied to the Regent Murray for a grant of the Vicarage of Stevenson, on the grounds that the churches were near, and that the revenues of both vicarages were barely sufficient for his maintenance. His application was referred by the Regent to the General Assembly of July, 1569. In 1571 he was nominated to the Archbishopric of Glasgow, but he did not obtain consecration; he abandoned the temporality in 1572. He was translated from Kilmaronock to Ayr in 1580, and continued in that charge till his death, which took place some time prior to the 10th April, 1604. In 1600, he received as his assistant and successor, the Rev. John Welch, son-in-law of John Knox. Porterfield was a person of amiable dispositions, but he seems to have lacked in ministerial earnestness.

page 176 note * The hermit of Allarit was Thomas Douchtie, who in 1533, founded the chapel of Alareit or Loretto at Musselburgh, near Edinburgh. According to Buchanan, Douchtie visited Italy, and on his return built a church which he dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and where he practised fictitious miracles (Hist. lib. xiv.. p. 41). On his first voyage to France, in 1536, on his matrimonial expedition, James V. was driven back by a storm, landing at Whithorn. He returned to Stirling, and from thence made a pilgrimage on foot to Alareit Chapel, for the purpose of devotion. He then sailed from Kirkcaldy on the 1st September, 1536, and ten days thereafter arrived at Dieppe, and Alareit Chapel stood beyond the eastern gate of Musselburgb, near the Links. It was a noted shrine till the period of the Reformation.

page 176 note † Hermit.

page 176 note ‡ Watchful.

page 176 note § Mean fellows.

page 176 note ∥ Drudges.

page 177 note * Contracted

page 177 note § Deceive.

page 177 note † Avaricious.

page 177 note ∥ Enticing.

page 177 note ¶ Trust.

page 177 note ‡ Hemlock.

page 177 note ** Cast off.

page 178 note * An expression, implying abhorrence and contempt.

page 178 note † Calderwood describes Friar Laing as confessor to James V., (Hist, vol. i., p. 142). His Christian name was William, not Walter. In the Treasurer's Accounts he is described, in 1541, as “Maister Elymosinar, in the Princes house.” According to Foxe, Friar William Laing betrayed to Archbishop James Beaton the confession of Henry Forrest, which led to his condemnation and martyrdom. Forrest suffered at St. Andrews.

page 178 note ‡ Kinghorn, an ancient burgh, three miles westward of Kirkcaldy, on he south coast of Fifeshire

page 178 note § Rude persons.

page 178 note ¶ Practised.

page 178 note ∥ A cunning person.

page 179 note * Calderwood's History, Wodrow ed., vol. i., p. 158.

page 179 note † Acta Rectoris Univ. S. Andreae.

page 179 note ‡ MS. Collections, prepared apparently for Sir Thomas Hope, in the possession of David Laing, Esq., LL.D.

page 179 note § Acta Dom. Cone, et Sess., vol. ix, folio 47 b and folio 52 b.

page 179 note ∥ Diplomata Regia. vol. vii., p. 176.

page 179 note ¶ Acta Parl. Scot., vol. ii., pp. 352, 383, 446.

page 180 note * Sir James Melville's Memoirs, p. 14.

page 180 note † “Regist. Secreti. Sigilli,” lib. xvii., fol. 30.

page 180 note ‡ Knox's History, Wodrow ed., vol. i., p. 100.

page 180 note § Saddler's State Papers, vol. i., p. 83.

page 180 note ∥ I Knox's History, vol. i., p. 102.

page 180 note ¶ Saddler's State Papers, vol. i., p. 90.

page 180 note ** Knox's History, vol i., p. 116.

page 181 note * History, vol. i., p. 167.

page 181 note † Chalmers' Life of Queen Mary, vol. ill. pp. 184, 185, 340.

page 181 note ‡ Works of John Knox, Wodrow ed., vol. iii., p. 409. “Regist. Secreti Concilii; Acta,” vol. i., fol. 35 and 35b.

page 181 note § “Diurnal of Occurrents,” p. 43.

page 181 note ∥ “Foedera,” vol. xv., p. 133, 44.

page 182 note * Letter in State Paper Office.

page 182 note † Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 44.

page 183 note * Knox's Works, Wodrow, ed. vol. i., p. 186.

page 183 note † Knox's Works, vol. Hi., pp. 431–436.

page 183 note ‡ Sir James Balfour's Annals, vol. i., p. 350.

page 184 note * Saddler's State Papers, vol. i., pp. 430–436.

page 184 note † Saddlers State Papers, vol. i., p. 548.

page 184 note ‡ Knox's Works, vol. iii., p. 414.

page 185 note * Knox's Works, vol. ii., p. 45.

page 185 note † “Acta Dom. Concilii et Sessionis.”

page 185 note ‡ Knox's Works, vol. ii., p. 381.

page 185 note § Brunton, and Haig's, “Senators of the College of Justice”, p. 62Google Scholar.

page 185 note ∥ “Reg. Seer. Concilii,” p. 163, and Treasurer's Accounts.

page 185 note ¶ Memoir of Sir James Melville.

page 189 note * Pool.

page 190 note * Familiar.

page 190 note ∥ Careful.

page 190 note ‡‡ Ace.

page 190 note † High.

page 190 note ¶ Endures.

page 190 note §§ Ensnared.

page 190 note ‡ Beware.

page 190 note ** Rest.

page 190 note ∥∥ Empty.

page 190 note ¶¶ Forsaken.

page 190 note § Leisure.

page 190 note †† Unbought.

page 190 note *** Bare.

page 191 note* Soon.

page 191 note ¶ Gets vacant.

page 191 note‡‡ Shells.

page 191 note † Spoon.

page 191 note ¶ Touch.

page 191 note §§ Lose.

page 191 note ‡ Wants.

page 191 note ** Worse.

page 191 note § From hence.

page 191 note †† Secret.

page 191 note ¶¶ Hose.

page 192 note * Hounds.

page 192 note § Soothe.

page 192 note † Indolent.

page 192 note ‡ Exhausted.

page 192 note ∥ Advise.

page 193 note * Guide.

page 193 note † Charter of Mortification, by John Hamilton of Preston, dated 19th November, 1615, in the possession of the Kirksession of Prestonpans.

page 193 note ‡ Records of St. Leonard's College, St. Andrews.

page 194 note * Autobiography and Diary of Mr. James Melville, edited by Pitcairn, Robert, Edinburgh, 1842, 8vo., p. 27Google Scholar.

page 194 note † This person, sometime a Presbyterian Minister, became an apostate by embracing the doctrines of the Church of Rome. Melville's Diary, p. 65.

page 195 note * Calderwood's History, Wodrow edit., vol. iii., pp. 301, 309.

page 195 note † The passage in Mr Davidson's poem which offended Rutherford was the following:—

”Thair is sum Colleges we ken

Weill foundit to vphold leirnit men,

To teiche the youth in letters gude,

And vtheirs also that ar rude,

Amang the rest foundit we se

The teiching of theologie,

With Rentis sum studentis to sustene

To that science to give thame clene.

Lat anis the Counsell send and se

Gif thir places weill gydit be,

And not abusit with waist rudis

That dois nathing bot spendis yai gudis

That was maid for that haly vse

And not te feid ane Crusit Guse.”

Rutherford was addicted to irascibility (DrLee's, Lectures on the Scottish Church,” vol. i., p. 253, note)Google Scholar, hence Davidson's comparison of him to a goose which, set on eggs, hisses angrily or crustily at all approaching it.

page 196 note * Calderwood, vol. iii., pp. 309, 328.

page 196 note † Book of the Universal Kirk, edited by Alexander Peterkin, Edinburgh, 1839, p. 166.

page 196 note † Calderwood, vol. iii., p. 573.

page 198 note * Mr. James Melville's Diary, Wodrow edit., p. 172.

page 198 note † Wodrow's, Collections upon the Lives of the Reformers and Most Eminent Ministers of the Church of Scotland,” Glasgow, 1834. 4 vols. 4to. vol. i., p. 182Google Scholar.

page 200 note * Mr. Davidson's publication was entitled “ A briefe Discovery of the Vntruths and Slanders against the trve Government of the Church of Christ contained in a Sermon preached by D. Bancroft.”

page 200 note † Miscellany of the Wodrow Society, vol. i., pp. 469–524.

page 200 note ‡ With some inconsistency on the subject of Sabbatic observance, the General Assembly, when trying the question between Davidson and Rutherford about the “crusit goose,” ordered the latter to produce his book upon “Sunday at 4 hours afternoon.”

page 200 note § Calderwood, vol. v., p. 130.

page 201 note * Caldervvood, vol. v., p. 140.

page 201 note † Ibid., vol. v., pp. 188, 191, 238.

page 202 note * Calderwood, vol. v., p. 338.

page 203 note * Records of Presbytery of Haddington.

page 206 note * The Earls of Huntly, Erroll, and Angus.

page 206 note † Calderwood, vol. v., pp. 394–406.

page 206 note ‡ Ibid., vol. v., p. 420.

page 207 note * Calderwood, vol. v., 467, 631.

page 207 note † Ibid., vol. v., 678–680.

page 207 note ‡ Ibid., vol. v., p. 681.

page 209 note * Record of the Presbytery of Haddington.

page 209 note † There was a chapel, within what is still known as the West Kirk-yard, where religious service had been maintained by the ancient monastic superiors, but it had fallen into disrepair.

page 209 note ‡ Records of the Presbytery of Haddington.

page 210 note * Records of Presbytery of Haddington.

page 210 note † At the close of the Minute-Book of the Kirksession of Prestonpans, there is, in Mr. Davidson's handwriting, a short register entitled “The book of buriall within ye parish of Saltpreston, sen November, 1595.” It contains, under 1603, the following entries:—

“Thursday, ye 24th [March]. Queen Elizabeth departed at Windsor.”

“1603. Apr 5th. The K ryding by to England. L. Seyton's counterfit burial.” The latter reference refers to a funeral pageant got up to symbolize the grief of the nobility at the king's leaving his ancestral kingdom.

page 211 note * Dr. Scott's Fasti, i., p. 349.

page 211 note † Calderwood's History, vol. vi., p. 212.

page 211 note ‡ Ibid., appendix, vol. viii., p. 129.

page 211 note § “Mr. John Davidson's Catechism, to which is prefixed a Discourse, giving an account of this impression, as also containing several things useful for determining of the Episcopal Controversy: by William Jameson, Edinburgh, printed for the author of the Discourse, Anno Dom. 1708.”

page 212 note * Row's, “History of the Church of Scotland.” Wodrow, Edition, 1842, 8vo., pp. 420462Google Scholar.

page 213 note * Wodrow's MSS. on the Lives of the Reformers.

page 213 note † DrSteven's, History of the High School of Edinburgh. Edinb., 1849, 12mo., p. 29Google Scholar.

page 214 note * Records of the Presbytery of Haddington.

page 216 note * Kennoway.

page 226 note * The poet referred to Mr. John Rutherford, of St. Andrews. (See supra).

page 241 note * Part of this line in the original has been destroyed.

page 246 note 1 Prover. 10, 12, 13, 18.

page 246 note 2 Eccles. 9.

page 246 note 3 Psalms 25, 27, 91.

page 246 note 4 Job. 31.

page 246 note 5 Prover. 5.

page 246 note 6 Psalm 18.

page 246 note 7 Q. Curt. li. 7.

page 246 note 8 Q. Curt. li. 7.

page 246 note 9 Q. Curt. li. 5.

page 246 note 10 Jeremi. 51.

page 247 note 1 Psalm 33. 40. 60.

page 247 note 2 Esai. 31.

page 247 note 3 Jeremi. 17.

page 247 note 4 Q. Curt. lib. 10.

page 247 note 5 Prover. II.

page 247 note 6 Eccles. 5.

page 247 note 7 Job. II.

page 247 note 8 Psalm 49.

page 247 note 9 Timot. 6.

page 247 note 10 Zephan. I.

page 247 note 11 Eccles. 2.

page 247 note 12 Nahum 3.

page 247 note 13 2 Sam. 17.

page 247 note 14 Psalm 7.

page 247 note 15 Ester, 7.

page 248 note 1 Ester, 6.

page 248 note 2 Dan. 6.

page 248 note 3 Psalm 76.

page 248 note 4 Psalm 89.

page 248 note 5 I Sam. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 29, 33.

page 248 note 6 2 Sam. 2, 3, 5, 8, 15, 16, 18, 20.

page 248 note 7 I Sam. 23.

page 248 note 8 Dani. 6.

page 248 note 9 Dani. 3.

page 249 note 1 Amos i. 7.

page 249 note 2 Mark I.

page 249 note 3 I Cor. I.

page 249 note 4 Jaco. 2.

page 252 note 1 Gene. 4.

page 252 note 2 Matth. 14.

page 252 note 3 2 Chro. 24.

page 252 note 4 Matth. 27.

page 252 note 5 Euseb. To. 4. fol. 7. Vide Sleidanum.

page 252 note 6 Prover. II.

page 252 note 7 Prover. II.

page 252 note 8 Matth. 16.

page 252 note 9 Matth. 16.

page 252 note 10 2 Timo. 3.

page 252 note 11 Psalm. 34.

page 252 note 12 I. Pet. 5.

page 252 note 13 Job. I.

page 253 note 1 Luc. 21.

page 253 note 2 I. Reg. 10.

page 253 note 3 I. Reg. 17.

page 253 note 4 Math. 27.

page 253 note 5 Jeremi. 38.

page 253 note 6 Act. 12.

page 253 note 7 Psalm. 91.

page 253 note 8 Psalm. 118.

page 253 note 9 Dani. 5.

page 253 note 10 Gene. 4.

page 253 note 11 Esai. 66.

page 254 note 1 Prover. 14.

page 254 note 2 Act. 5.

page 254 note 3 Act. 12.

page 254 note 4 Act. 16.

page 254 note 5 Esai. 3. Heb. II.

page 254 note 6 Acts7. 2. Timot. 4.

page 254 note 7 Esai. 41. Jerem.I, 4, 5.

page 255 note 1 Psalm 37.

page 255 note 2 Tit. 1.

page 255 note 3 Psalm 40.

page 255 note 4 Esai. 5.

page 255 note 5 Timot. 2.

page 256 note 1 2. Timot. 2.

page 256 note 2 Num. 23. 24.

page 256 note 3 2 Timot. 4.

page 256 note 4 Acts. 17.

page 256 note 5 Esai. 58. I Timot. 5.

page 256 note 6 Psalm 38. Psalm 41. Nahum. 1. Psalm 31. Psalm 34.

page 256 note 7 Timot. 4

page 257 note * Math. 16.

page 257 note † Esai. 51.

page 263 note * Some account of these two devoted promoters of the Reformation has been presented in Mr. Davidson's memoir. Campbell was a member of the house of Loudoun, and it is believed he was grandson of Sir George Campbell of Loudoun, founder of that family. He was an attached friend of John Knox and of the Regent Murray. According to Calderwood he keenly supported Mr. Davidson in the General Assembly of March, 1573–4, during the discussion in connection with his poem on the Regent Morton. He subsequently afforded him shelter and protection. Campbell died on the 22nd April, 1574, under the circumstances detailed in the poem. His wife died in the month of June following. Their daughter Elizabeth, to whom Mr. Davidson dedicates this poem, succeeded to the estate of Kinyeancleuch; it remained in the family till 1786, when it was sold to Claud Alexander of Ballochmyle. The poem was printed at Edinburgh in 1595 by Robert Waldegrave, under the author's supervision. Of that publication only a single copy is known to exist; it was sometime in the library of David Laing,' Esq., LL.D., Edinburgh, and it is now in the possession of Charles Miller, Esq., Britwell. Fifty copies were issued by Mr. Maidment in 1829.

page 268 note * In 1494 a Provincial Synod was convoked at Glasgow by Arch-bishop Blackader, when thirty persons were arraigned for heresy, including George Campbel of Cesnock. James IV. who was present, counselled mild measures, and the accused were therefore dismissed with an admonition and warning.

page 269 note * Alexander Alesius, or Aless, or Alane, was born at Edinburgh on the 23rd April, 1500. A canon of the Priory of St. Andrews, he undertook to reclaim Patrick Hamilton, by whom he was converted to Protestantism.

page 269 note † John Resby, the first person who suffered in Scotland in the cause of religious liberty, was burnt at Perth in 1407.

page 269 note ‡ Paul Craw was a Bohemian physician, and a disciple of Hugo and Wickliff. He suffered at St. Andrews in 1432.

page 271 note * Choirs.

page 282 note * According to Wodrow (Analecta) Campbell of Kinyeancleugh, the subject of this poem, having met the Regent Murray prior to the battle of Langside, requested him, in the event of a victory and the consequent forfeiture of Queen Mary's adherents, to grant him the estate of the Sheriff of Ayr. After the battle the Regent complied with Campbell's request, who immediately restored the possession to the sheriff, who was his near relative. The sheriff now embraced the reformed doctrines; his descendants became earls of Loudoun.