Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers and Other Poems Part 4

"In his downgoing from the Tolbooth to the place of execution, he was very richly clad in fine scarlet, laid over with rich silver lace, his hat in his hand, his bands and cuffs exceeding rich, his delicate white gloves on his hands, his stockings of incarnate silk, and his shoes with their ribbands on his feet; and sarks provided for him with pearling about, above ten pund the elne. All these were provided for him by his friends, and a pretty ca.s.sock put on upon him, upon the scaffold, wherein he was hanged. To be short, nothing was here deficient to honour his poor carcase, more beseeming a bridegroom than a criminal going to the gallows."--NICHOLL'S _Diary_.

"_The grim Geneva ministers With anxious scowl drew near_,"--p. 43.

The Presbyterian ministers beset Montrose both in prison and on the scaffold. The following extracts are from the diary of the Rev. Robert Traill, one of the persons who were appointed by the commission of the kirk "to deal with him:"--"By a warrant from the kirk, we staid a while with him about his soul's condition. But we found him continuing in his old pride, and taking very ill what was spoken to him, saying, 'I pray you, gentlemen, let me die in peace.' It was answered, that he might die in true peace, being reconciled to the Lord and to His kirk."--"We returned to the commission, and did show unto them what had pa.s.sed amongst us. They, seeing that for the present he was not desiring relaxation from his censure of excommunication, did appoint Mr. Mungo Law and me to attend on the morrow on the scaffold, at the time of his execution, that, in case he should desire to be relaxed from his excommunication, we should be allowed to give it unto him in the name of the kirk, and to pray with him, and for him, _that what is loosed on earth might be loosed in heaven_." But this pious intention, which may appear somewhat strange to the modern Calvinist, when the prevailing theories of the kirk regarding the efficacy of absolution are considered, was not destined to be fulfilled. Mr. Traill goes on to say, "But he did not at all desire to be relaxed from his excommunication in the name of the kirk, _yea, did not look towards that place on the scaffold where we stood_; only he drew apart some of the magistrates, and spake a while with them, and then went up the ladder, in his red scarlet ca.s.sock, in a very stately manner."

"_And he climbed the lofty ladder As it were the path to heaven_,"--p. 43.

"He was very earnest that he might have the liberty to keep on his hat; it was denied: he requested he might have the privilege to keep his cloak about him--neither could that be granted. Then, with a most undaunted courage, he went up to the top of that prodigious gibbet."--"The whole people gave a general groan; and it was very observable, that even those who, at his first appearance, had bitterly inveighed against him, could not now abstain from tears."--_Montrose Redivivus_.

THE HEART OF THE BRUCE

Hector Boece, in his very delightful, though somewhat apocryphal Chronicles of Scotland, tells us, that "quhen Schir James Dowglas was chosin as maist worthy of all Scotland to pa.s.s with King Robertis hart to the Holy Land, he put it in ane cais of gold, with arromitike and precious unyementis; and tuke with him Schir William Sinclare and Schir Robert Logan, with mony othir n.o.bilmen, to the haly graif; quhare he buryit the said hart, with maist reverence and solempnitie that could be devisit."

But no contemporary historian bears out the statement of the old canon of Aberdeen. Froissart, Fordun, and Barbour all agree that the devotional pilgrimage of the Good Sir James was not destined to be accomplished, and that the heart of Scotland's greatest king and hero was brought back to the land of his nativity. Mr. Tytler, in few words, has so graphically recounted the leading events of this expedition, that I do not hesitate to adopt his narrative:--

"As soon as the season of the year permitted, Douglas, having the heart of his beloved master under his charge, set sail from Scotland, accompanied by a splendid retinue, and anch.o.r.ed off Sluys in Flanders, at this time the great seaport of the Netherlands. His object was to find out companions with whom he might travel to Jerusalem; but he declined landing, and for twelve days received all visitors on board his ship with a state almost kingly.

"At Sluys he heard that Alonzo, the King of Leon and Castile, was carrying on war with Osmyn, the Moorish governor of Grenada. The religious mission which he had embraced, and the vows he had taken before leaving Scotland, induced Douglas to consider Alonzo's cause as a holy warfare; and, before proceeding to Jerusalem, he first determined to visit Spain, and to signalise his prowess against the Saracens. But his first field against the Infidels proved fatal to him who, in the long English war, had seen seventy battles. The circ.u.mstances of his death were striking and characteristic. In an action near Theba, on the borders of Andalusia, the Moorish cavalry were defeated; and, after their camp had been taken, Douglas, with his companions, engaged too eagerly in the pursuit, and, being separated from the main body of the Spanish army, a strong division of the Moors rallied and surrounded them. The Scottish knight endeavoured to cut his way through the Infidels, and in all probability would have succeeded, had he not again turned to rescue Sir William Saint Clair of Roslin, whom he saw in jeopardy. In attempting this, he was inextricably involved with the enemy. Taking from his neck the casket which contained the heart of Bruce, he cast it before him, and exclaimed with a loud voice, 'Now pa.s.s onward as thou wert wont, and Douglas will follow thee or die!' The action and the sentiment were heroic, and they were the last words and deed of a heroic life, for Douglas fell, overpowered by his enemies; and three of his knights, and many of his companions, were slain along with their master. On the succeeding day, the body and the casket were both found on the field, and by his surviving friends conveyed to Scotland.

The heart of Bruce was deposited at Melrose, and the body of the 'Good Sir James'--the name by which he is affectionately remembered by his countrymen--was consigned to the cemetery of his fathers in the parish church of Douglas."

A n.o.bler death on the field of battle is not recorded in the annals of chivalry. In memory of this expedition, the Douglases have ever since carried the armorial bearings of the b.l.o.o.d.y Heart surmounted by the Crown; and a similar distinction is borne by another family. Sir Simon of Lee, a distinguished companion of Douglas, was the person on whom, after the fall of his leader, the custody of the heart devolved. Hence the name of Lockhart, and their effigy, the Heart within a Fetterlock.

THE HEART OF THE BRUCE

It was upon an April morn, While yet the frost lay h.o.a.r, We heard Lord James's bugle-horn Sound by the rocky sh.o.r.e.

Then down we went, a hundred knights, All in our dark array, And flung our armour in the ships That rode within the bay.

We spoke not as the sh.o.r.e grew less, But gazed in silence back, Where the long billows swept away The foam behind our track.

And aye the purple hues decay'd Upon the fading hill, And but one heart in all that ship Was tranquil, cold, and still.

The good Lord Douglas walk'd the deck, And oh, his brow was wan!

Unlike the flush it used to wear When in the battle van.--

"Come hither, come hither, my trusty knight, Sir Simon of the Lee; There is a freit lies near my soul I fain would tell to thee.

"Thou know'st the words King Robert spoke Upon his dying day, How he bade me take his n.o.ble heart And carry it far away;

"And lay it in the holy soil Where once the Saviour trod, Since he might not bear the blessed Cross, Nor strike one blow for G.o.d.

"Last night as in my bed I lay, I dream'd a dreary dream:-- Methought I saw a Pilgrim stand In the moonlight's quivering beam.

"His robe was of the azure dye, Snow-white his scatter'd hairs, And even such a cross he bore As good Saint Andrew bears.

"'Why go you forth, Lord James,' he said, 'With spear and belted brand?

Why do you take its dearest pledge From this our Scottish land?

"'The sultry breeze of Galilee Creeps through its groves of palm, The olives on the Holy Mount Stand glittering in the calm.

"'But 'tis not there that Scotland's heart Shall rest by G.o.d's decree, Till the great angel calls the dead To rise from earth and sea!

"'Lord James of Douglas, mark my rede!

That heart shall pa.s.s once more In fiery fight against the foe, As it was wont of yore.

"'And it shall pa.s.s beneath the Cross, And save King Robert's vow, But other hands shall bear it back, Not, James of Douglas, thou!'

"Now, by thy knightly faith, I pray, Sir Simon of the Lee-- For truer friend had never man Than thou hast been to me--

"If ne'er upon the Holy Land 'Tis mine in life to tread, Bear thou to Scotland's kindly earth The relics of her dead."

The tear was in Sir Simon's eye As he wrung the warrior's hand-- "Betide me weal, betide me woe, I'll hold by thy command.

"But if in battle front, Lord James, 'Tis ours once more to ride, No force of man, nor craft of fiend, Shall cleave me from thy side!"

And aye we sail'd, and aye we sail'd, Across the weary sea, Until one morn the coast of Spain Rose grimly on our lee.

And as we rounded to the port, Beneath the watch-tower's wall, We heard the clash of the atabals, And the trumpet's wavering call.

"Why sounds yon Eastern music here So wantonly and long, And whose the crowd of armed men That round yon standard throng?"

"The Moors have come from Africa To spoil and waste and slay, And King Alonzo of Castile Must fight with them to-day."

"Now shame it were," cried good Lord James, "Shall never be said of me, That I and mine have turn'd aside, From the Cross in jeopardie!

"Have down, have down, my merry men all-- Have down unto the plain; We'll let the Scottish lion loose Within the fields of Spain!"

"Now welcome to me, n.o.ble lord, Thou and thy stalwart power; Dear is the sight of a Christian knight Who comes in such an hour!

"Is it for bond or faith ye come, Or yet for golden fee?

Or bring ye France's lilies here, Or the flower of Burgundie?"

"G.o.d greet thee well, thou valiant King, Thee and thy belted peers-- Sir James of Douglas am I called, And these are Scottish spears.

"We do not fight for bond or plight, Not yet for golden fee; But for the sake of our blessed Lord, Who died upon the tree.

"We bring our great King Robert's heart Across the weltering wave, To lay it in the holy soil Hard by the Saviour's grave.

"True pilgrims we, by land or sea, Where danger bars the way; And therefore are we here, Lord King, To ride with thee this day!"