tons remained, as a distinct people, in Strathclyde, and Peebles shire, even to the twelfth century. 7. At the demise of Malcolm Ceanmore, in 1093, the common language of Scotland, with the exception of Lothian, and a corner of Cathness, was Gaelic, or Scoto-Irish, which was spoken by the descendants of those Irish emigrants, who settled in Ceautyre, at the beginning of the sixth, and Galloway, at the end of the eighth, cénturies. S. The colonization of proper Scotland, by the Anglo-Saxons, and other people of a Gothic race, who mingled with them, began at the commencement of the twelfth century, and has not yet been quite completed.

P. 115.

The following passage throws light on a remarkable difference between the Scotish and English lan

guages.

One of the most remarkable varieties, in the orthography of the Old English,

or

and Scotish writers, was the different use of the o and a. This appears in very ancient writers of the vulgar tongue. Many Saxon words, in Lye's Dictionary, are indifferently written with an a, and an o, according as the manuscripts, from which they were taken, were composed, in the southern, or in the northern dialect; as hand, or hond; hangen, or hongen; land, lond; lang, or long. Thus, the o prevailed, in the South, while the a was used, in the North: and hence, the o is more frequent, in the writings of R. of Glo'ster, Wiclif, and Chaucer, while the a is more used in R. of Brune, and Minot. Even Chaucer writes many words with the a, in the pure Saxon form, as the same form continued to be used by Lyndsay, and other Scotish writers of his age, and by those, who wrote in the dialect of the North of England, even to the present day. On the other hand, Chaucer writes several words with o, where the Scotish speech, as well as the modern English, have retained the a, as in hong, hond, lond, sond, for hang, hand, land, sand. As the English of the South gradually substitute o, for a, in a great many words, this formed the chief point of difference, between the English, and Scottish languages, in "Lyndsay's age. While the

English writers of the South were de parting from the Saxon form of the words, the English people of the North, with the Scotish, retained them unchanged; and most of the dialects, both of the north of England, and of Scotland, continued to use the Saxon words, in their original forms. P. 151. We shall now proceed to give which are, 1. The Dreme. This was some account of Lyudsay's poems, the first of his productions. It was composed, as we had occasion to observe, immediately after the king, by humbling the nobles, had established himself in secure possession of the supreme power; and Lyndsay's object seems to have been to remind his Sovereign Lord of the services he had formerly rendered him at a very early period of life. He begins by enumerating them,

Quhen thou wes young, I bure the in

myne arme,

Full tenderlye, till thow begouth to gang:

And in thy bed, oft happit the full

mer r;

Regulare channouis, churle monkis,
and chartereiris,
Curious clerkis, and preistis seculeiris;
Thare was sum part of ilk religioun,
In haly kirk, quhilk did abusioun.

P. 195. After having enlarged for some time on the clergy, he enumerates the other descriptions of persons who were found there, Kings, Nobles, Ladies, (whom he treats of very am ply) and in fine men of all ranks and professions. The poet is then conducted through the planets, whom he considers partly as heavenly bodies, and partly as heathen gods. At last, he mounts to the firmament itself, of which he gives an elaborate though not very poetical description; but we must observe, that

though the ancient Apostles and Martyrs have places of high honour, there is no mention of any order of churchmen subsisting in his own time. Having thus seen all the other parts of the universe, he at last expresses a wish to be favoured with a view of the earth, in which, his courteous guide readily gratifies him. Our poet then makes a copious display of his geographical knowledge, in enumerating all the different regions of the globe; though he has strangely enough confounded the ancient and modern divisions. Thus, And was in four devydit Italye, Tuscane, Hethruria, Naplis, and Champanye. P. 226. And France, we sawe devydit into thre, Belgica, Celtica, and Aquitane; And subdevydit, in Flanderis, Picardie, Normandie, Gasconye, Burgunye, and Britane, P. ib.

Cyper, Candie, Corsica, Sardane, and

Crete,

P. 227.

After a short description of Paradise, the poet then proceeds to Scot. land, And here, says he,

I did prepone, ane lytill questioun, Beseikand hir, the same for till declare, Quhat is the cause our boundis bene sa bare?

Quod I, or quhat dois move our miserie,

Or quhareof dois proceid our povertie? For throw the support of your hie prudence,

Of Scotland, I persave the properteis ;
And als considderis, be experience,
Of this cuntrie the greit commoditeis:
First, the aboundance of fischis, in our

seis,

The fresche fontanis, quhose hailsum cristal strandis,

Refreschis so the fair Aureist grene meidis,

So, lak we na thing, that to nature neidis:

Of everilk mettell, we have the riche mynis,

Baith gold, silver, and stanis precious: Howbeit we want the spycis, and the wynis,

Or uther strange fructis delicious,

Pryde hes chaist far from thame humi litie,

Devotioun is fled unto the freiris, Sensual plesour hes baneist chaistitie, Lordis of religioun thay go lyke seculeirís,

Takyng mair compt, in telling thair deneiris,

Nor thay do of their constitutioun ;
Thus ar thay blyndit be ambitioun.

Our gentill men ar all degenerate.

defyne,

The principall cause, that we ar so pure. P. 232.

It is answered, that all this happens through want of justice, policy, and peace. The question then comes, Why are these things more wanting in Scotland than in other countries? This gives an excellent opening for throwing abuse upon the nobles and clergy, who are represented as the cause of all this mischief. Ihone the Commonwealth makes his appearance, and declares his grievances.

Into the south, I was, allace! neir slane,

And cowardice, with lordis, is laureate, And knichtlye curage changeit in brag,

and boist,

Journal of the Transactions in Scotland during the contest between the adherents of Queen Mary and those of her Son, 1570, 1571, 1572, 1573. By Richard Bannatyne, Secretary to John Knox. Edited by John Graham Dalyell, Esqr. Advocate, large 8vo. 15s. Con. stable and Co.

[Na preface to this volume, Mr

and mischief,

And viciousnes, it wald infect the air, And als langsum, to me, for till declair, P. 239. I have socht throw all the spirituall stait, Qahilk tuke na compt, for to heir me complane:

Thair officiaris, thay held me at disdane, For symonie, he rewlis all that rout, And covetice, that carle, gart bar me

out.

July 1906.

Dalyell gives some notices of the manuscript, from which it is printed, He observes,

Two things, the most important, in my opinion, respecting Bannatyne's fournal, can admit of little dispute: First, that it is an original work; and, Secondly, that it has been written during the identical period to which it relates; that the events recorded have frequently been engrossed on the very day when they occurred.

Little is known of the author; so little, that it is unworthy of repetition here for I cannot descend to trifling anecdote,

anecdote, a mode of conveying what is considered information, too prevalent at this day. In the course of the work it appears, that he was secretary to the famous reformer John Knox; and most probably, through his influence, obtain ed much of the intelligence, to which we can hardly suppose he could other wise have had access. In particular, it is not likely, that some of the following state-papers, which are wonderfully correct, had that degree of publicity, which would have enabled him to ascertain their contents, without resorting to the authority of the prevailing government. Pref. p. 1.

Great use appears to have been made of it in some of the old histories; in particular by Calderwood and Spottiswoode, who have both copied it with the utmost exactness. Even the historian of King James the Sext, who preceded these two, has, in some passages, a coincidence of narrative, which renders it probable that he has seen the journal. The only person however who quotes it for authority is Goodall, about half a century ago; and no historian since his time seems to have had any knowledge of it. Mr D. has some suspicion, that Goodall, who held for some time the office of librarian to the Advocates library, kept it studiously out of sight on account of its hostility to his own opinion respecting Queen Mary. Certain it is, that it is not entered in any catalogue of that library, and it was found by Mr D. while examining all the manuscripts which that library contained, among some papers quite unconnected with the subject,

The Editor has now presented it to the public, in the hope that it may be of use to the compiler of history, by illustrating some disputed points in the Scottish annals. But for our parts, we are disposed to give it a more extensive use, and to consider it as interesting to the general reader. In a regular history, such as that of Robertson, the whole narrative is necessarily thrown into one common mould, and the dignity of history does not

admit of those minute details which are necessary for illustrating a va The man who wishes to view the riety of very interesting particulars. living manners, the mode of thinking and acting among the mass of the people, must turn to contemporary writings; and nothing can answer his purpose better than such a jourin a manner the most varied and misnal as this, written on the spot, and cellaneous. It may be considered as a newspaper upwards of two hundred years old; for it contains not merely a register of public transactions, but the most trifling occurrences of the day, familiar letters, scraps of sermons, dying confessions, burning of witches, &c. &c. The whole exhibits a striking picture of that turbulent state of society which was produced by the overgrown power of the nobles, the minority of the king, and the civil dissensions. Murder, robbery, and way-laying, are quite common incidents, with which half the volume is filled.

One striking circumstance is the great outward respect paid to religi on, and the profound reverence with which its ministers are regarded. An apprehension being entertained, that the governor of the castle was meditar ting some design against John Knox, a number of the first nobility wrote him a letter, stating that they valued the life of that reformer equally with their own. We often find very little however of the conduct suitable; religion is in general only the ladder by which they may mount to power and importance. The pulpit is the great rallying place of political contention, in the same manner as the clubs were in France during the time of the revolution. Every kind of reproach is thrown upon those who preached only doctrines and duties, and "sic generalities," and who did not reprove personally those whom they conceived to have violated these duties. This is a fault of which, to

all

all appearance, John Knox (many of whose pulpit orations we have here preserved) never had to reproach himself. The following may serve as a specimen of the style in which he inveighs against the Queen.

That I have called hir ane obstinat idolatrice, ane that consented to the murther of hir awin husband, and ane that hes comitted whordome, and villanous adulterie, I glaidlie grant and never myndis to deny ; bot realing and seditione they are never able to prove in me, till that they first compell Esai, Jeremie, and Ezechiel, St. Paul, and vtheris to recant, of whom I have learned planelie and bauldlie, to call wicketness be the awin termes, a feg, a feg, and a spead, a spead. I fear that threatening pronounced be Esai, in these wordis, Wo to them that call lyght darkness, and darkness lyght, good ewill, and ewill good. If scho be innocent of ony of the crymes laid to hir charge be me, then may I be accused as a railer; but gif there awin conscience bearis witnes to thame, that scho is guiltie in all the forenamed, and in everie one of them, and in mony moe, lat them studie how they sal be absolved before God, who threatenis to cas Jesabell in a bed, and them that comitt fornicatione with hir in great afflictione, except they repent. How mony flattered hir when sche raged in hir iniquitie, vnder the cloak of authoritie, some within this realme, and within the same citie vnderstandis. But how that God the iust judge hath overthrawin bir pryde, and disapointed there fals flattering promises, the whole world can witness, and yit they will not cease; but still they will manteane hir as sche were ane innocent and vniustlie handled of hir subjectis. Let hir and hir menteaneris compleane, upon God, who made hir chief flatteraris hir cheifest enemies. What scho sal be to thame or they to hir, fat them declare, I speik of thingis certane and bypast.

P. 109.

Bannatyne seems on this subject to have fully adopted the sentiments of his master. He denominates Mary "that murtherer and knawin adultres called the quene"; and elsewhere "the quene murtherer of Scotland."

Indeed from the tenor of the work we should be led to suppose, that her guilt was considered at that time throughout Scotland, as acknowledged and undeniable; for even the Bishop of Galloway, in a sermon where he endeavours to inculcate the duty of praying for the Queen, and of considering her as the lawful sovereign, does not rest at all on any belief of her innocence, but urges,

Sanct David was a synner, and so was scho; Sanct David was an adulturer, and so is scho; Sanct David committed murther in slaying Vrias for his wyfe, and so did scho: bot what is this to the mater: the more wicked that scho be, hig subsectis suld pray for hir, to bring hir to the spreit of repentance; for Judas was ane synner, and gif he had bene prayed for, he had not diet in dispair; whairfore, I pray all faythfull subiects, to pray for thair lauchfull magistrate, gif it be the quene. It is the quene, as I doubt not; but ye may well consider, that na inferiour subiect hes power to deprive or depose their lauchfull magistrate, hie or scho whatsumever, albeit they comitt whordome, murther, incest, or ony vther cryme, being anes be God iust and lauchfull prince or princes, to ring above you, not chosen as the imperial magistratis are.

P. 181.

We find a firm belief in witchcraft prevailing among all ranks, high and low.

On Tuysdey, the 3 of Julij, 1571, Andro Lundie beand at dener with my maister, in a place of the lard of Abbotthalls, called Falsyde, openlie affirment for treuth, that when the quene was lying in ieasing of the king, the Ladie Athole, lying thair lykwayis, bayth within the castell of Edinburgh, that he come thair for sum busines, and called for the Ladie Reirres, whone he fand in hir chalmer, lying bedfast, and he asking hir of hir disease, scho answrit that scho was never so trubled with no barne that ever scho bair, ffor the Ladie Athole had cassin all the pyne of hir childbirth vpon hir. P. 238.

The following describes an event too common at that period.

The 28 of Apryle'thair was ane witche brunt in St Androis, wha was ac

cused