to an Esquire, one Thomas Isaac ; * (Elizabeth, married to Sir Walter Oliphant of Gask).t

DAVID II.

In consequence of the act of settlement 1318, Randolph assumed the character of Regent.

* " Quae nupsit cuidam armigero nomine Thomae Isaac." She had two daughters, Johanna, married to John Lord of Lorn, and Catherine, who died unmarried; Fordun, L. xiv. c. 7. Crawfurd, Peerage, p.72. has thus perverted the passage in Fordun, "Quae ex Thoma de Ysack habuit filiam," &c. His intention was to conceal the mean marriage of the daughter of Bruce; and therefore he suppressed the words quidam armiger, (a certain esquire), and he changed the name of Thomas Isaac into Thomas de Ysack, which has the appearance of a more dignified appellation, assumed from lands. There is a singular passage in Fordun, L.ix. c. 13. "De Matilde penitus taceo, quia nihil egit memoriâ dignum;" i. e. "I chuse to be altogether silent as to Matildis, for she did nothing which deserves to be remembered." Whether this passage only alludes to her mean alliance with Thomas Isaac, or whether it also implies a particular censure on her character, I know not.

+ Crawfurd, Peerage, p. 72. is positive as to the existence of this Elizabeth; he says, " I have seen a charter in the custody of Oliphant of Gask, bearing date on the 11th of January 1364, whereby King David erects the lands of Gask into a barony; Dilecto et fideli suo Waltero Olyfant et Elisabethae sponsae suae, dilectae sorori nostrae." In the MS.collections of Sir Alexander Seton, (Lord Pitmedden), the charter is quoted as containing these words, "Dilecto et fideli nostro Waltero Oliphant pro bono servicio suo nobis impenso, et Elisabethae sorori nostrae." Here the word dilectae is omitted. Not having had any opportunity of inspecting this charter, I must still hesitate. The silence of Fordun and his continuator is remarkable; every one conversant in ancient deeds knows, that filius, filia, frater, are words which do not necessarily imply legitimate relation. To

Fordun, xiii. 18.

Indefatigable in discharging the duties of his station, he secured the public tranquillity by wise ordinances, and distributed speedy and severe justice.

One example of the fortitude of his administration is too singular to be passed over in silence. A certain man having slain a priest, went to the Papal court, obtained absolution, and boldly returned to Scotland. Randolph ordered him to be tried, and, on conviction, to be executed: "Because, although the Pope may grant absolution as to the spiritual consequences of sin, he cannot screen offenders from civil punishment." *

1330.

Meanwhile Douglas, having the charge of the heart of his dear master, set sail from Scotland with a numerous and splendid retinue, (June)." He anchored off Sluys in Flanders, the great emporium of the Low Countries, where he expected to find companions in his pilgrimage.t He there

remove all doubts, the charter itself, if extant, ought to be deposited in the Register-house.

Robert Bruce had a natural son, Robert, of whom mention will be made hereafter.

* " Quamvis sufficienter ostensum est, ipsum fore absolutum à culpa, tamen oportuit eum plecti pro offensa;" Fordun, L. xiii.

c. 18.

+ Froissart, T. i. c. 21. says, that Douglas had in his train a knight bearing a banner, (probably Sir William St Clair of Roslin), and seven other knights, and twenty-six esquires, all

66

comely young men of good family," besides many attendants of inferior rank; that he kept open table (tinel), with trumpets and timbals, as if he had been King of Scotland, and that he was served in gold and silver plate. Froissart adds, that all persons of condition who visited him on shipboard, were well

learnt, that Alphonsus XI. the young King of Leon and Castile,* waged war with Osmyn, the Moorish commander in Granada.

The temptation of bearing arms against the enemies of the Christian faith was too violent to be resisted. In the judgment of those times, it was a holy warfare; and it seemed, in some measure, to correspond with the purposes of the journey which Douglas had undertaken: He therefore resolved to visit Spain, and combat the Saracens in his progress to Jerusalem.t

Douglas and his companions were honourably entertained by Alphonsus.‡

entertained with two sorts of wine, and two sorts of spice: "Et sachez que tous ceux qui le vouloyent aller veoir, estoient bien servis de deux manieres de vins et de deux manieres d'espices."

* Froissart, T. i. c. 21. says, "Alphonsus IV. King of Arragon;" but that is a mistake, however implicitly followed by many historians: For we learn from Mariana, L. xv. c. 21. that the King of Arragon, although joined in alliance with the King of Castile against the Moors, did not bring his troops to the

field.

† It is probable, however, that Douglas had projected this expedition before he quitted Scotland. His passport from Edward III. (dated 1st September 1329), is to him on his journey, "Versus Terram Sanctam in auxilium Christianorum contra Saracenos, cum corde Domini R. Regis Scotiae nuper defuncti ;" Foedera, T. iv. p. 400.

‡ It is reported, that, in the army of Alphonsus, there was an officer having his face altogether disfigured with the scars of wounds received in battle: "It astonishes me," said he, petulantly, to Douglas, "that you, who are said to have seen so much service, should have no marks of wounds on your face." "Thank Heaven," answered Douglas, "I had always an arm to protect my face;" Barbour, p. 434.

9

The Spaniards came in view of the enemy near Theba, a castle on the frontiers of Andalusia, towards the kingdom of Granada. Osmyn the Moor ordered three thousand horsemen to make a feigned attack on the Spaniards, while, with the rest of his army, he took a circuit, with the intent of falling on the rear of the camp of Alphonsus. The King, having received intelligence of this stratagem, opposed some troops to the Moorish cavalry, and stood prepared in his camp to encounter Osmyn. Osmyn attacked the Spaniards, was repulsed and discomfited. The King improving his victory, advanced, and won the camp of the enemies.

The detached troops fought with equal advantage, and the Moorish cavalry fled.1o Douglas, with his companions, eagerly pursued the Saracens. Taking the casket which contained the heart of Bruce, he threw it before him, and cried, “Now pass thou onward as thou was wont, and Douglas will follow thee, or die!" The fugitives rallied, Surrounded and overwhelmed by superior numbers, Douglas fell,† (25th August).

His few surviving companions found his body in the field, together with the casket, and reverently conveyed them to Scotland. The remains

* Or Teva, Fordun, L. xiii. c. 21. quotes a metrical epitaph on Douglas, which says, " Apud castrum Tibris."

+ While attempting to rescue Sir William St Clair of Roslin, he shared his fate; Barbour, 437. Robert and Walter Logan, both of them knights, were slain with Douglas, His friend Sir William Keith, having had his arm broke, was detained from the battle; Barbour, p. 439.

of Douglas were interred in the sepulchre of his forefathers,* and the heart of Bruce was deposited at Melrose.

1331.

David II. and his consort Johanna were anointed and crowned,† (24th November, at Scone)."

* Douglas was interred in the church of Douglas. His natural son Archibald Douglas erected a marble monument to his memory; Barbour, p. 441. But his countrymen have more effectually perpetuated his name by bestowing on him the appellation of "the good Sir James Douglas." Fordun reports, L. xiii. c. 21. that Douglas was thirteen times defeated in battle, and fifty-seven times victorious. There are who quote Fordun as reporting "that Douglas was thirteen times victorious over the Saracens." Boece, L. xv. fol. 311. b. confidently asserts, That Douglas, after having buried the King's heart at Jerusalem, waged war with the Saracens in Palestine, and obtained many victories over them: That, on his return homewards, he was driven by a tempest on the coasts of Spain, where he died in battle. Boece had the works of Barbour and Fordun before his eyes when he invented this tale.

Perhaps my readers will not dislike to see the portrait of Douglas, drawn by Barbour, p. 13.

"In visage was he some deal gray,
And had black hair, as I heard say;
But then of limbs he was well made,
With bones great and shoulders braid,
His body well made and lenzie,
As they that saw him said to me.
When he was blyth he was lovely,
And meek and sweet in company;
But who in battle might him see,
Another countenance had he;
And in his speech he lispt some deal,
But that set him right wonder well."

+ By James Ben, Bishop of St Andrews. In the Advocates' library at Edinburgh, there is extant an original bull of Pope John XXII. addressed to Robert Bruce, which empowers the Bishop of St Andrews, and failing him, the Bishop of Glasgow, to anoint and crown the Kings of Scotland.

Fordun, xiii. 21.