[From Manx Soc vol 10]

Notes to Manx Soc Volume X - #56-75

NOTE 56.— " THIS ISLE THE SCOTS HELD BUT 74 YEARS." (Page 23.)

This statement is not strictly correct. The Scotch, under John Comyn and Alexander Stewart, of Paisley (according to Sacheverell, see Short Survey of the Isle of Man, p. 55, vol. i., Manx Society), conquered the Manx in the battle of Ronalds way, October 8th, 1270. The King of Norway, Magnus, ceded to Alexander the Third of Scotland, his right and title to the Isle of Man and the Hebrides, in consideration of 4,000 marks sterling, to be paid in four yearly installments, with a quit rent of 100 marks per annum, for ever, in a treaty executed at Perth, in 1266. The Manx, under the instigation of Ivar, the grandson of the Usurper Reginald, and son of Godred Don (the same who in conjunction with his brother Harold and others, had murdered King Reginald — son of Olave the Black — in 1249 — see Appendix C.), declined this transfer of their allegiance. On the arrival of the expedition of the Scotch, under the conduct of John Comyn and Alexander Stewart, at Derbyhaven, in the Isle of Man, the Manx resisted the landing, and were utterly overthrown on the field of Ronaldsway hard by, with the loss of their leader Ivar, and 536 of their chief men. The battle happened on October 8th, 1270. Alexander then placed over the Island a succession of Governors: Godred Mc Manus; Allan; Maurice O'Castelan (called also Maurice Okerfair) ; Reginald; Brennus ; and Donald.-(See Sacheverell, Short Survey of the Isle of Man, vol. i., Manx Society, p. 56.)

The Isle of Man became involved in the confusion incident to the claims of the families of Bruce, Baliol, and other competitors for the Scottish throne; and being left "desolate and oppressed with many miseries," the Manx placed themselves under the protection of Edward the First of England, in 1290.-(See Rymer's Foedera, vol. ii., p. 492; see also Sacheverell's Short Survey, vol. i., Manx Society, note 74, p. 57.) Edward the First made grants of the Island to various parties, the first of whom was John Baliol of Scotland, in 1292. The right of Baliol was opposed by the families of Montacute and Waldeboef, descendants on the female side, from the ancient Norse Kings of Man. Baliol was deposed and thrown into prison by Edward, in 1296; and died in France, in 1304. In 1305, it is most likely that Sir William Montacute (son of Sir Simon Montacute, to whom Aufrica or Affreca de Connaught, the sister of Magnus, last King of Man, had made over her right that same year — see Sacheverell's Short Survey of the Isle of Man, p. 58), proceeded to take possession of his ancestral dominions; but in order to meet the expenses to which he had been put in so doing, was obliged to mortgage the revenues of the Isle of Man, to Anthony Bec. — (See Text, p. 23.) His rights seem not to have been recognised by Edward the Second, who made grants of the Island to the various parties named by our author. But in 1313, Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, landed at Ramsey, in the Isle of Man, and proceeding to Castletown, after a somewhat lengthened siege, took Rushen Castle; and the power of the Bruce Party was then established on the Isle, and continued for the most part till the conquest of the Isle from the Scotch, by the English, under Sir William Montacute (First Earl of Salisbury, and son of the former Sir William Montacute), in 1343.-(See notes 78 and 79, to Sacheverell's Short Survey, Manx Society, vol. i.)

It is evident that our author counts the 74 years of the tenure of the Isle of Man by the Scotch, from 1270 to 1343 inclusive; but during a portion of that period, viz., from 1290 to 1313, the Island was clearly in the hands of the Kings of England (Edward the First and Edward the Second) and their nominees, and was jointly occupied by the English and such of the Scotch as were opposed to the claims of Bruce. After the battle of Bannockburn, many Scottish families who were obnoxious to the Earl of Carrick, then struggling for the Scottish throne, seem to have taken refuge in the Isle of Man; and we are thus enabled to explain Bruce's expedition to the Isle of Man, in 1313, and the obstinate defence of Rushen Castle against him, by Duncan de Ergadia, or Duncan Macdougall (the Dingawi Macdoual of the Chronicon Mannia), who was cousin to the Second Red Comyn, murdered by Bruce at Dumfries, in 1306-7. — (See Genealogical Table of the Ergadia Family, Appendix B.) Bruce never felt himself safe even after the murder of Comyn, as long as any of that nobleman's kindred remained.

In connection with this tenure of the Isle by the Scots, mentioned by our author, it may be well to examine here more particularly the statement of Sacheverell, as above referred to, respecting its conquest by them, as it seems to explain in some measure the interest acquired by Henry de Beaumont, as narrated by our author, pages 24-28.

The words of Sacheverell (see Short Survey of the Isle of Man, vol. i., Manx Society, p. 55) are, "Alexander (King of Scotland,-EDIT.) having now reduced all the outisles, sends a numerous army under Alexander of Peasely and John Comyne, who landed at Rannesway, in the year 1270."

It is not easy to determine which of the John Comyns it was who took so active a part in this expedition. On referring to the Genealogical Table of the Comyn family (see Appendix D.), it will be seen that there were in 1270 at least four John Comyns, who were of sufficient note and standing to be entrusted with the command of the invading army.

There was then living the first Red Comyn, John Lord of Badenoch, who in 1264, along with John Baliol and Robert Bruce, led troops into England, to assist Henry the Third, against his refractory Barons. He was son of Sir Richard Comyn; and grandson by the first wife, of that Sir William Comyn who became Earl of Buchan, in right of his second wife, Marjorie, only daughter and heiress of Fergus, Earl of Buchan He is also said by Shaw, in his History of the Province of Moray, to have married Marian, a daughter of Alan, Lord of Galloway. — (See Appendix A.)

Next, there was John Comyn, son of the first Red Comyn. He was called the Black Comyn ; and married Marjorie, sister of John Baliol, King of Scotland. Again, there was John, the second Red Comyn, son of the Black Comyn, by his wife Marjorie, and who was therefore nephew to King John Baliol. He was that Comyn murdered by Robert Bruce in the Church at Dumfries, in 1306-7, being a competitor with him for the crown of Scotland; and having a prior claim to it both from Hexilda, through his father, and from David, Earl of Huntingdon, through his mother, the sister of King John Baliol.

Lastly, there was at the same time John Comyn, who became Earl of Buchan, succeeding his father, Alexander, Earl of Buchan, in 1288. He was made High Constable of Scotland, and swore fealty to Edward the First, at Norham, in June, 1291. As the holder of a Barony in England (viz., that of Whitwic, in Leicestershire), he was summoned to perform military duty with the army which had been ordered to assemble at Norham, at the end of six weeks after Easter (see Parliamentary Writs of England). He it was who (as above observed in note 17), obtained leave from Edward the First to dig for lead in the Calf of Man, to cover eight towers of his Castle at Cruggleton, in Galloway; having succeeded to the Galloway estates in right of his mother, Elizabeth, daughter of Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winchester, and grand-daughter of Alan, Lord of Galloway (see Appendix -4). An illegitimate son of this Alan, was the notorious Mac Dhu Alan, who married a daughter of Reginald, the usurping King of Man (the same who made surrender to the Pope, in 1219), bastard son of Godred the Black, King of Man (see Chronicon Manniae). Through this daughter of Reginald, Thomas Mac Dhu Alan became brother-in-law of Godred Don, who had two sons, Harold and Ivar; the latter of whom is particularly mentioned as the murderer of Reginald (Olaveson), King of Man, in 1249 (see Chronicon Manniae), and the former seized the Kingdom of Man, in 1250. Sacheverell states from Manx tradition (see Short Survey, p. 54), that the widow of Magnus, the last Scandinavian King of Man, was secretly in love with this Ivar; and he leads us to infer that it was on her account that Ivar led the Manx army, which resisted the invasion of the Scotch, at the battle of Ronaldsway, in 1270; in which battle, as before noted, Ivar and 536 of the flower of the Manx nation fell " L decies X ter, et pente duo cecidere Mannicea Gens de te, damna futura cave." (Chronicon Manniae.) It was, however, quite as likely that Ivar on that occasion fought in support of his own pretensions to the throne of Man, as of any which the widow of Magnus might be presumed to have entertained; for he was the nearest male descendant of Godred the Black (see Appendix C.), and his grandfather Reginald, though illegitimate, had occupied the throne of Man and the Isles for 38 years. He may have thought to strengthen the number of his partisans by uniting himself with the widow of Magnus; but in reality her claim to the throne could never stand in competition with that of Mary, the daughter of Reginald (Olaveson), or with that of Aufrica (or Affreca) de Connaught, the sister of this Reginald, and aunt of Mary.

Ivar seems to have been connected with the Comyns of the Buchan line, and also with those of Badenoch, if we dare rest on the authority (above referred to) of Shaw, in his History of the Province of Moray, For Helena, the wife of Roger de Quincy, and mother of Elizabeth, who married Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, was daughter of Alan, Lord of Galloway, with whom Ivar's father was connected by his sister, married to Alan's son Thomas; and Shaw also states that the First Red Comyn married Marian, daughter of Alan. The difficulty in the way of receiving Shaw's statement, for which he has not given authority, is that we have positive information of only three legitimate daughters of Alan; viz., by his first wife (name unknown), Helena, married to Roger de Quincy; by his second wife (Margaret, daughter of David, Earl of Huntingdon), Christian, married in 1236, to William de Fortibus (son and heir of the Earl of Albemarle), and Devorgille, married in 1233, to John de Baliol, of Barnard Castle. Alan had by his third wife (a daughter of Henry de Lacy), no issue (see Chalmer's Caledonia). It is remarkable, however, that Buchanan says, that in 1258 "the Cumins had now great power in Galloway; Mary, the sister of Devorgille, having married John Cumin." His exact words are " Balliolus per matrem totam Gallovidiam regionem amplissimam tenebat; Cuminiam familiam secundum Reges potentissimam affinitate sibi junctam habebat per Johannem Cuminium cui Maria Dornagillæ Soror nupserat."-(See Buchanan's Rermn Seoticarum Historia, lib. viii., p. 134.) Dr. Taylor, of Elgin, is of opinion that the John Comyn here referred to, is the Black Comyn who married Marjory, the daughter of Devorgille, and sister to John Baliol ; and he adds that there is no evidence that Devorgille had a sister Mary. If Buchanan's statement betaken as literally correct, that John Comyn had married "Maria Soror Dornagilloo," the presumption would be that this Maria was the same as Shaw's Marian; and that she was not only legitimate, but the daughter of Margaret, daughter of David, Earl of Huntingdon. This would have made the claim of her son John, the Black Comyn, to the throne of Scotland, next in order to that of King John Baliol, whose sister he married. Yet it seems strange that if there were such a claim by direct descent from David, Earl of Huntingdon, it should never (as far as I know), have been put forward in behalf of the Black Comyn. The claim which he himself put forward, was that derived by his direct descent from Hexilda, the grand-daughter of Donald Bane, King of Scotland.

Of the four John Comyns above mentioned, the two youngest, at the time of the battle of Ronaldsway, 1270, were John Comyn, son of Alexander Comyn Earl of Buchan; and John (the Second Red Comyn), cousin to John de Ergadia, whose mother was the third daughter of the First Red Comyn, and sister to the Black Comyn. Yet, as they both at a very early age acquired military renown, it is not impossible that either of them may have been employed in the Manx Expedition. Dr. Taylor suggests that it may have been very probably the Second Red Comyn who was so employed, for there is evidence that, young as he was, he had before 1270 attained to military honours; since, according to Fordoun, he had been Knighted by Alexander the Third, in 1267, (Scotichronicon, vol. ii., p. 108,) "Øi etiam Johannes filius Johannis Comyn, ab ipso rege Alexandro baltheo precingitur militari." And in the chapter next to that in which this quotation occurs, but under date 1268, Fordoun says " Rex Alexander versus Man exercitum citari fecit, ibidem contra insultus rebellium castramentatus. Tandem inito consillo quosdam de suis cum Galweyonsibus illue transmisit ; et exercitus reversus est." That the John Comyn above mentioned as being Knighted, was the Second Red Comyn, and not his father, the Black Comyn, is plain from the circumstance that the Black Comyn had been Knighted at aprevious date, Fordoun speaking of him as already a Knight, in 1265 (vol. ii., p. 103), "Johannes Comyn et alii milites."

Very little is said in history of any military exploits of the Black Comyn. He was one of the six Guardians of Scotland, on the death of Alexander the Third; and as we know, one of the competitors for the throne of Scotland. He died at his Castle of Lochindorb, in Moray, in 1299, leaving his son John, the Second Red Comyn, as competitor for the throne, against Robert Bruce.

John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, the First Red Comyn, was a distinguished soldier and statesman in the reign of Alexander the Third; and as above noted, led troops to assist Henry the Third against his Barons : and if it be the case that he had married a daughter of Alan, Lord of Galloway, his presence at the head of Gallo-vidians, in the invasion of Man, in 1270, would not be improbable.

With respect to the other John Comyn, the son of the Earl of Buchan, the fol-lowing circumstances are worthy of note. There is in the possession of the present Sir Alexander Penrose Gordon Cumming, Bart., of Altyre, a brass seal, bearing the Coat of Arms of the Earls of Buchan (the three garbs or wheat sheaves, as seen in the shield of pretence on the Coat of Arms of Henry de Beaumont, in the accom-panying plate of Chaloner), and round about it the inscription " S: IONIS: COMIN: FIL: COM: DE: BUCHAN "-(the seal of John Comin, son of the Earl of Buchan). It has over it the label indicating that it was the seal of the eldest son, in his father's lifetime. It was therefore the seal either of John Comyn, son of Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, and uncle to Alice, wife of Henry de Beaumont ; or of his son John, who died about 1306. Its date must be, if of the former, between 1243 and

1288, when Alexander died ; if of the latter between 1288 and 1306. It is stated in the Seotiehronieon that though William, Earl of Buchan (the father of Alexander), died in 1231, yet his son Alexander was not designated Earl of Buchan, till 1243. Hence, the presumption is that Alexander did not till 1243, arrive at his majority, unless he was simply kept out of the Earldom on account of his mother, the Countess, who died in 1237-8; so that his son John, even if born when his father was only 21 years of age, must have been a minor till 1264 at least, and could be hardly more than 25 in 1270, and most probably was younger than John, the Second Red Comyn, who was Knighted in 1267. Whatever difficulty may therefore on the score of age attach to the assumption that the Second Red Comyn led the Scotch at the battle of Ronaldsway, the same must attach in an equal, if not higher degree, to the hypothesis that John Comyn, son of Alexander, Earl of Buchan, was their leader.

It may still be noted that Alexander Comyn, the father of this John, was em-ployed by Alexander the Third, in settling the affairs of the Isles, in 1282. He was thrice summoned to perform military service by Edward the First of England: once in 1277, against Llewellyn, Prince of Wales; and again in 1282. He may have been employed by Alexander against the Isles, in 1270 ; and his son John may have taken a share in that part of the expedition which was directed against the Isle of Man.

That the Comyns did acquire a considerable interest in Manx affairs, there can be little doubt. As above observed, it was a nephew of the Black Comyn-Duncan de Ergadia, or Duncan Macdougal, (the Lord Dungawi Macdoual of the Chronicln Mannice,)-who defended Rushen Castle so vigorously against Robert Bruce, in 1313. One of the family, Alice de Beaumont, if not actually styled such, was really Queen of Man. — It is certain that the power of the, Comyn family culminated just at the time when the Isle of Man passed into the hands of the Scotch. Their fall commenced with that of the family of Baliol, with which they were so closely connected, and was completed at the Battle of Bannockburn, when the fortunes of the Bruces rose upon their ruin.

Having figured in the history of Scotland for nearly two centuries, the Comyns were then suddenly extinguished by forfeiture, banishment, and proscription. " The Cumyns" (says Mr. Riddel, in his Reply to the misstatements of Dr. Hamilton) " were certainly the most illustrious of our Scottish families; and their blood at this day circulates through all that is noble, in the Sister Kingdom, including even the numerous and royal descendants of King Henry the Fourth."-(See Appendi:z D.) In the Antiquities of the Shires of Aberdeen and Bang, printed for the Spalding Club, 1847, we read "On the 28th of August, 1296, at Berwick on Tweed, Brice, Abbot of Deir, swore fealty to King Edward the First, of England." About the same time, or between the years 1290 and 1308, the Monastery obtained from John, Earl of Buchan, a grant of the patronage of the Church of Kyn-Edwart. This gift, from the grandson of their founder, was the last which the Brethren of St. Mary were fated to receive from his race and lineage. In the memorable Revolution which placed the Earl of Carrick on the Scottish Throne, the illustrious family of Cumyn was so utterly overthrown, that, says a Chronicle of the age, "of a name which numbered at one time three Earls, and more than thirty belted Knights-De nomine Cumyng erant tres comites Buchanie, Marre et Menteith et simul xxx milites balthoo accineti-there remained no memorial in the land, save the orisons of the Monks of Deir. The new King wasted the heritage of the Cumyns with such cruelty,

That eftre that weile fyfty yer,
Men menyt (bewailed) the herschip of Bowchane."

It is not improbable that some of the relics of the fallen family may be traced in the Isle of Man, under the Manx " Comish," presenting a singular addition to the many forms in which the name of this family has been spelt. In the Roll of Battle Abbey, we find it as originally Comin ; but various Charters and public documents afterwards exhibit it as Comine, Comyn, Comyne, Cumin, Cummin, Comine, Cumyn, Cumyne, Cwmyn, Cuming, Cumyng, and Cumming ; to which may be added a further English corruption of it, by the addition of the letter s to most of the above forms.

NOTE 57.— " EVEN TO OUR TIMES." (Page 23.)

In the original of Chaloner's description, immediately after the sentence " even to our times," great confusion is produced by the transposition to this place of the documents pertaining to Lord Beaumont ; and the omission, in the proper place, of all mention of Anthony Bee and Piers Gaveston; as well as the recovery of the Island by the Scots, under Robert Bruce, and its reconquest by William Montacute the younger, Earl of Salisbury, in 1343. This was attempted to be rectified in the addenda to the book, but in a very clumsy manner. In the re-arrangement of the text, I have been obliged to omit a few words of Chaloner, in order to make it con-sistent with the true chronology. In the original, Chaloner, after stating that Anthony Bee, Bishop of Durham and Patriarch of Jerusalem, held the Isle of Man for seven years, goes on to say " Then William Montacute, son of the said William Earl of Salisbury, possessed the same." So far, with certain omissions, he is correct; but in trying to correct his text in the addenda, he falls into a gross error, for he says that °' William Montacute the younger, (First-EDIT.) Earl of Salisbury, in the year 1340 (1343-EDIT.) won it from the Scots, and sold it for a great sum of money to Sir William Scroop." It was not, however, the Sir William Montacute who conquered the Isle in 1343, who sold it to Lord Scroop ; but his son, Sir William Montacute, Second Earl of Salisbury, who succeeded his father in the Kingdom of Man, in the year 1344.

In my notes to the first volume of the Manx Society (Sacheverell's Short Survey of the Isle of Man), an attempt is made to reconcile Camden, Chaloner, and Sacheverell, with each other and with the facts of history which are elicited by the comparison of the ancient documents, published in vol. vii. of the Manx Society.

NOTE 58.— " MARY, THE DAUGHTER OF REGINALD, THE LAST KING OF MAN, OF THAT NAME." (Page 23.)

There is a mistake here, copied by many writers, and leading to considerable confusion in this portion of Manx history. This "Mary, married to the Earl of Strathern," was not the daughter, but the widow of Reginald Olaveson ; as appears by the following passage in Fordoun, "Rex Mannice mortuus est ; eujus relietam Comes Malisius de Strathern postes duxit, scilicot filiam Eugenii de Ergadia." (Scotichronicon, vol. ii., p. 109.) In Rymer's Fadera, vol. i., part 2, p. 773 (printed in vol. vii., Manx Society, p. 116), she is styled "Nobilis mulier Maria regina de Man, et Comitissa de Strathern ; " her name being given amongst those who did homage to Edward the First, of England, in 1292, in the Church of the Predicant Brethren, at Perth. She was again a widow in 1296; for we read under that date " Maria quo fisit uxor Malisii Comitis de Strathern ; " and as such she received from Edward the First a precept addressed to the Sheriff of Perth, for the restoration of the estates which had belonged to her late husband.-(Rot. Scot., vol. i., p. 26.) She had a daughter by Reginald: vis., Mary, married to John de Waldeboef, from whom descended a son William, and grandson John; the last of whom prosecuted his claim to the Crown of Man, derived from her, and was ordered to be heard in the King's Bench, 33 Edward the First.-(See Rot. Part., A.D. 1305 and Appendix C.)

She had also by the Earl of Strathern a son (Malise), who became Earl of Strathern, and is mentioned as a prisoner in England, in 1306 and 1310 (Rymer, vol. i., part 2, p. 1003; and Rot. Scot., vol. i., p. 94) ; and it is most probably his wife who is the Countess of Strathern mentioned as being implicated in the conspiracy against Robert the First of Scotland, in 1320. For it seems very improbable that Mary (the Dowager Countess), who was the widow of Reginald and a mother in 1249, should take part in a conspiracy in 1320, when she must have been 90 years of age at least, if she were living.

The generally received opinion is that Mary, the wife of Reginald Olaveson, was the daughter, not of Ewen, or Eugene de Ergadia (as stated by Fordoun), but of Alexander de Ergadia, and therefore, that she was sister of John de Ergadia ; and I so expressed it in 1859, in my notes to vol. i., Manx Society (Sacheverell's Short Survey, p. 160), on an authority which was furnished to me, and said to be from the Ragman Roll (but which I have since then found to have been incorrectly given), tracing through this lady the connection of the Comyns and Beaumonts with the Isle of Man. The same opinion is expressed by Dr. Oliver, in vol. iv., Manx Society, note to p. 213, " Reginald married Mary, daughter of Alexander de Ergadia, Lord of Lorn." I must now, for myself, retract that opinion; believing Fordoun to be correct in his speaking of Mary as "filiam Eacgenii de Ergadia." Dr. Taylor, of Elgin, has kindly pointed out to me a considerable difficulty to be urged against the hypothesis that she was the daughter of Alexander de Ergadia. He says" if she were the daughter of Alexander de Ergadia, he must have been nearly 100 years old in 1301, when he retired to England, after his defeat by Bruce. The date of his death there, is not mentioned.-(Fordoun, vol. ii., p. 242.) Admitting that Mary was only 18 years of age when she became the widow of Reginald, King of Man, in 1249, her father, if 21 years old at the time of her birth, must in that case have been born in 1211." It is right, however, to state, that Skene says, in opposition to Fordoun, that it was John de Ergadia who retired to England, in 1308. He says (vol. ii., p. 110), " Master of Lorn, hopeless of successfully continuing his opposition, submitted to the victorious King; while his son John, who could not expect to be admitted to any terms, fled to England." Still, this would show, that Alaster was living in 1308; and the same difficulty would arise. A far greater difficulty would arise, if we accept the statement of Sir Walter Scott and Skene, followed by Train and other writers, that Alexander de Ergadia "married the third daughter of John, the Red Comyn, slain by Bruce."-(See Lord of the Isles, note to First Canto, p. 24.) For the Red Comyn was slain by Bruce, in 1306-7; and if Mary, the wife of Reginald, were the daughter of Alexander de Ergadia, she would consequently be the grand-daughter of this Second Red Comyn; and as she had a daughter Mary, in 1249, we should arrive at the conclusion, that a man, active enough to be a competitor with Robert Bruce, for the throne of Scotland, in 1306, was a great-grandfather 57 years before that time. Further, John de Waldeboef, the great-grandson of Reginald and Mary, was old enough in 1304, to be prosecuting his claim to the Throne of Man; and if the John Comyn, slain by Bruce, were the grandfather of the wife of Reginald, he would have been living and active at the time when his great-great-great-grand-son was of mature age.

Sir Walter Scott contradicts himself, and makes the matter still worse when he says (History of Scotland, in Dr. Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopædia, p. 91), " Macdougal, or John of Lorn, married an aunt of the slaughtered Comyn." If John of Lorne's father (Alaster de Ergadia), married a daughter of the murdered Comyn, and he himself (John of Lorn), married Comyn's aunt, we should have a man marrying his grandfather's aunt; a relationship not contemplated in the table of marriages, within prohibited degrees. John of Lorn was in reality first cousin of the murdered Red Comyn. The same error as to the wife of Alaster de Ergadia, occurs in Harvey's Life of Sing Robert Bruce, wherein John of Lorn is mentioned as the nephew of the John Comyn whom Bruce and Kirkpatrick murdered-" McDougal nephew to the Cumine slain."

I believe that most of these errors have originated from the fact that Sir Walter Scott, and the other writers who have followed him, were ignorant of, or overlooked the circumstance of there having been two Red Comyns, the father and the son re-spectively of John, the Black Comyn.-(See Appendix D.) It is also plain that Ewen, or Eugene de Ergadia, has been confounded with Alaster de Ergadia ; a very distant relative, though living at the same time.-(See Appendix B.) Lord Hades, in the Annals of Scotland, vol. ii., p. 8, gives, on the authority of Fordoun and Archdeacon Barbour, the correct statement, that "Alexander of Argyle, Lord of Lorn, had married the aunt of Comyn ; " i. e., of the Comyn slain by Bruce. And with this statement it is evident that those lines of Wyntoun most fully agree, though adduced by Sir Walter Scott, in support of his view (note to Canto the First, Lord of the Isles).

"The thryd douchtyr of Red Comyn Alysawnder of Argayle syne
Tuk and weddyt til hys wyf And on hyr he gat until hys lyf John of Lorn."

The Second Red Comyn, son of John the Black Comyn (Lord of Badenoch, and brother-in-law of John Baliol), is thus seen to have been the first cousin to John of LOrn, who had great possessions in the Isle of Man; claiming an interest therein. probably as a descendant of Somerled, Thane of Argyle.-(See Appendix B.) John, of Lorn thoroughly espoused his cousin's cause against Bruce; as we read in The Brus, edited by Cosmo Innes, p. 145:-

"This Johne of Lorne hatit the King (Robert Bruce) For Schire Johne Cumyn his emis' sak."

He may have retired to his estates in the Isle of Man, when his father, Alexander,. retired to England, in 1308 ; but if so, he was driven out in 1313, when Robert Bruce took the Island, with the Castle of Rushen, which was defended by John of Lorn's brother, Duncan (Dungawi Macdoual) ; nor did he regain possession of his property there till 1340.

NOTE 59.— " HENRY, LORD BEAUMONT." (Page 24.)

Henry de Beaumont was son of Lewis de Brenne, by Agnes (his wife), Viscountess, de Beaumont and Mayne. This Lewis de Brenne was according to some authorities the son of Charles, Earl of Anjou (a younger son of Lewis the Eighth, King of France) ; according to others, the second son of John de Brenne, the last King of Jerusalem.-(See Burke's Extinct Peerage.)

He is said to have come into England in the suite of Queen Eleanor. It appears (see Edward the First in the North of Scotland, by Dr. Taylor, p. 252) from the testimony of the Minstrel Blind Harry, (The Wallace, edited by Dr. Jamieson, p. 338-9,) that he was in Scotland in 1297; and again (according to Dugdale), with Edward the First, in 1303, when he obtained a precept to the collectors of fifteenths

in Yorkshire, for 200 marks, for his support during the war. He had a residence at Dundarg Castle, in Buchan, from which he fled, on the first expedition of William Wallace and his friends into Buchan.

" Out of Murray in Bowchane land corn thai To sek Bewmond, be he past away,

Than thir gud men to Wallace passyt rycht."

But

"Lord Beaumont tuk the sey at Buchan ness."

Probably one great object in his joining in the expedition of 1303, was the recovery of his estates, and more especially of the lands of Philorth, which he had either seized or obtained on the defection of the Lord of that Barony.-(See Edward the First in Scotland, p. 252.)

It is stated by Buchanan (History of Scotland, book ix., chap. 16), that Henry de Beaumont married a daughter of Sir John Mowbray. There is, however, no doubt that his wife was a Comyn ; the eldest daughter either (as stated by our author and almost certainly) of Alexander Comyn, the second son of Alexander the Second Earl of Buchan ; or of his brother, John Comyn, the Third Earl of that family. It is certain that he obtained the Comyn estates, in Leicestershire; and he is the direct ancestor of the Beaumonts of Cole Orton, in that county. He was never acknow-ledged in Scotland, as Earl of Buchan ; nor is there evidence to prove that he obtained his wife's moiety of the Scottish estates; viz., the lands of Cairnbulg, and the other extensive domains of the family, which were confiscated to the crown by Robert the First; though John, son of the Earl of Ross, who had married Margaret Comyn, Alice Beaumont's sister, obtained from Robert by charter, referred to below (Note 61), a grant of the half of the territories of the proscribed Earl; and having, as it is said, no family, disposed of them again by charter, in 1316, dated at Inverness, to his elder brother, the Earl of Ross, and failing him, to Hugh, his second son, and after him, to Walter Leslie, who had married the eldest daughter of the Earl of Ross. They were severally designated of Philorth, until the year 1375, when that Barony, including Cairnbulg, came into the hands of Sir Alexander Fraser, of Cowie, by his marriage with the youngest daughter and co-heiress of the Earl, and sister of Euphemia, Countess of Ross.-(See Buchan, by John B. Pratt, p. 142.) Henry de Beaumont became a favourite of Edward the Second; and in the first year of that monarch, had a grant in fee of the Manors of Folkynham, Edenham, and Barton-upon-Humber, and of all the Knight's fees belonging to Gilbert de Gant, which Laura de Gant, his widow, held in dower. He was summoned to parliament as a Baron, in 1309.-(Burke's Extinct Peerage.) He was also constituted Governor of Roxburgh Castle; and deputed with Hiunfrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, and Robert de Clifford, to guard the Marches. About this time also, he married Alice Comyn; and in the 6th year of Edward the Second, doing homage, had livery of her lands. On the disgrace of Piers Gaveston, he obtained from Edward the Second a grant of the Isle of Man for life, as seen in the first of the documents pertaining to him.-(Printed also in vol. vii. of the Manx Society; Dr. Oliver's Monumenta, vol. ii., p. 141, from the Bot. Orig. in Curia Seacearii, 1 Edward the Second, A.D. 1308.) In 1310, Edward the Second resumed possession of the Isle of Man, out of Beaumont's hands, and granted it to Anthony de Bee, Bishop of Durham (see vol. vii., Manx Society, p. 149) ; but on the death of that prelate, in 1311, Beaumont appears again as holding the Island in the name of the King, and collecting the revenue thence, as we have a writ (5 Edward the Second, A.D. 1312), addressed to Gilbert Mac Gaskill, Keeper of the Isle of Man, in which he is commanded to deliver to Gilbert de Bromley, all the money which he may receive from Henry de Beaumont, or his Lieutenant in the Island ("de dilecto et fideli postro Henrico de Bello Monte vel ejus locum tenente in terra predicts."-Manx Society, vol vii., p. 154.) But in the same year, Beaumont again obtained a re-grant of the Island for life.-(See Rot. Orig. in Curia Scaecairii, 5 Edward the Second, Manx Society, vol. vii., p. 158.) It would appear from the second document in Chaloner (Rotull Parlia-mentorum, 5 Edward the Second, 11 Aussint pur ceo," &c.), that the King repented of the large gifts he had bestowed upon Beaumont, mainly through the intrigues of the Lady de Vescy, Beaumont's sister, for he complains that Henry de Beaumont had taken from him " an damage et deshonor du Roi," the Kingdom of Man and other lands, rents, franchises, and bailliwicks, and procured from the donor both other lands and tenements, franchises, and bailliwicks." Beaumont was therefore dismissed from the King's person, and his property taken into the hands of the King until restitution should be made of the King's revenues, which Beaumont had ap-propriated to himself. The Lady de Vescy, Henry Beaumont's sister, was also banished to her family, and forbidden to return to St. James's Court to live. Whether Henry de Beaumont was subsequently recognised as Lord of Man, does not appear; but he was plainly not in possession of it, as Robert Bruce landed at Ramsey, in 1313, besieged and took Rushev Castle, and then gave a charter to Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, to hold the Isle of Man under him (see vol. vii., Manx Society, p. 162, and vol. ix., p. 13); and it is to be observed that Henry de Beaumont's name is not given as Lord of Man in the last of the three documents in Chaloner (see also Rymer's Fædera, 16 Edward the Second, A.D. 1323), ordering his commitment to prison on account of disobedience to the King.

In the 10th year of Edward the Second, Lord Beaumont, being then the King's Lieutenant in the north, accompanying thither two Cardinals who had come from Rome, partly to reconcile the King to the Earl of Lancaster, and partly to enthronize his Lordship's brother, Lewis de Beaumont, in the Bishopric of Durham, was attacked near Darlington by a band of robbers, headed by Gilbert de Middleton, and despoiled of all his treasures, horses, and everything else of value. Lord Beaumont was conveyed to the Castle of Mitford, and his brother, the Bishop, to the Castle of Durham, as prisoners, remaining there till ransomed.-(See Burke's Extinct Peerage.) Notwithstanding his quarrel with the King, in 1323, he was shortly afterwards re-stored to the King's favor; and two years subsequently, was constituted one of the plenipotentiaries to treat of peace with France; and also in 1326, was nominated guardian to David de Strathbolgi (son and heir of David de Strathbolgi, Earl of Athol, deceased; and grandson of the Second Red Comyn), in consideration of the sum of one thousand pounds.-(See Appendix D.)

He shortly after this deserted entirely the cause of the King, and siding with the Queen Consort Isabella, was the very person to deliver him up to his enemies, upon his abortive attempt to flee beyond the seas. The King was committed a close prisoner to Berkeley Castle; and there, as is well known, barbarously murdered. As the reward of his treachery, Lord Beaumont received a grant of the Manor of Loughborough, part of the possessions of Hugh le Despenser, the attainted Earl of Winchester; and was summoned to Parliament on the 22nd January, 1334 (7th Edward the Third), as Earl of Buchan.

During the reign of Edward the Third, he had many high and confidential em-ployments, and took a prominent part in the affairs of Scotland, being at one time sent as Constable of the King's Army, into that country.

On the decease of his sister, the Lady Isabella (widow of John de Vescy, of Alnwick, in Northumberland), without issue, he obtained her large possessions in the County of Lincoln, and thus became one of the most wealthy nobles in the kingdom. He died in 1340, leaving several children, of whom John, Second Baron Beaumont, was summoned to Parliament 25th Feb., 1342, but was never entitled Earl of Buchan ; and Elizabeth, married to Nicholas de Audley, son and heir of James, Lord Audley, of Heley.-(Burke's Extinct Peerage.) He had also other daughters, the fifth of whom, Isabella, married Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Lancaster (see Appendix D.), and he thus became a progenitor of King Henry the Fourth.

There were descended from Lord Henry de Beaumont, six Barons of the same name, the last of whom, William de Beaumont, Second Viscount de Beaumont, and Seventh Baron, dying without issue, in 1507, the Viscountcy expired, and the Barony of Beaumont fell into abeyance, according to the decision upon the claims of Thomas Stapleton, Esq., in 1798. Sir George Hovland Willoughby Beaumont, Bart., of Cole Orton, Leicestershire, is descended from Sir Thomas Beaumont, Kt., Lord of Basquerville, in Normandy (second son of John de Beaumont, the Sixth Baron, Knight of the Garter), who was created First Viscount Beaumont, in 1409. This Sir Thomas Beaumont, married Philippa, daughter and heiress of Thomas Maureward, Esq., of Cole Orton ; he died in 1457, leaving two sons,-Sir John Beaumont, Knight, of Cole Orton, slain at Towton, in 1461 (the ancestor of Sir G. H. W. Beaumont) ; and Thomas Beaumont, Esq. (the ancestor of the Beaumonts of Barrow-upon-Trent).

Respecting the origin of the name of the territory from which the Earls of Buchan derived their title, considerable difference of opinion has existed. The name is variously spelt Buchan, Buquhan, and Boghan, and is plainly of Celtic origin. Keith says, it "was so called because abounding of old in pasture, paying its rent in cattle, for the word in Irish signifies cow-tribute." Others have suggested a connection with the Manx Boo-seven or Water-cow, and with the Buccaneers who levied black mail in cattle ; but the most probable derivation is that suggested by the situation of the territory on a promontory of Scotland, well known under the present name of Buchan Ness; Bouchuan signifying the land in the bend of the ocean. This country, afterwards abounding in corn fields, was well represented in Heraldry by sheaves; the arms of the Earls of Buchan and their descendants being "Azure, three garbs Or." They are, however, properly borne by the Comyns and their descendants, and some have fancifully regarded the three garbs or bundles, as representing the herb Cumin. One branch of the Comyns bearing these arms, acquired the title of Earls of Buchan by marriage; William, son of Richard de Comyn, having married for his second wife Marjorie, daughter of Fergus, Earl of Buchan, about 1220.-(See Appendix D.) The same arms have been borne by subsequent Earls of Buchan, of various families; and as a shield of pretence on the coats of arms of those connected with the Comyns by marriage, as is seen in the coat of arms of Henry de Beaumont, as given in the plate of Chaloner, and of the De Bohuns, Earls of Chester, and also of the Talbots, Earls of Shrewsbury. Richard, Lord Talbot, married Elizabeth, daughter of the Second Red Comyn, murdered by Bruce. His great-grandson John, was created Earl of Shrewsbury in 1422. It is stated in the Antiquities of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff, edited by the Spalding Club, vol. iv., p. 174, that the descendants of this Earl " long remembered the Lordship of Comyn of Badenoch among their titles, and still carry the arms of that great family." After the Comyns and Henry de Beaumont, we find as Earls of Buchan, first, John Stuart, son of Robert, Duke of Albany, who was created Earl of Buchan, and Constable of France. He was slain at the battle of Vernuil, and George Seton, of Seton (ancestor to the Earls of Winton), having married his only daughter Jane, that family continue to carry the arms of Buchan as a coat of pre-tence, though the Earldom itself was denied to them. In 1457, James the Second of Scotland, created James, second son of John Stuart, the Black Knight of Lorn, and of his wife, Queen Jane (widow to James the First of Scotland), Earl of Buchan ; John, the Master of Buchan, was slain at Pinkie, 1547, leaving one daughter, Christian.

Robert Douglas, son of William Douglas, of Lochleven, became Earl of Buchan, having married the said Christian.

Lastly, James Erskine, eldest son of John, Duke of Mar, having married Mary Douglas, also thus became Earl of Buchan.-(See View of Aberdeen, in Pratt's Buchan, pp. 91-92.)

NOTE 60.— "CHARTA EDWARDI II" (Page 24")

I have arranged these three documents pertaining to Henry de Beaumont, chrono-logically. In Chaloner's original text, they are not so arranged. After the" Charta Edwadi 11.," the date of which is 1 Edward the Second (A.D. 1308), he introduces the document" De Henrico de Bello Monte propter inobedientiam," the date of which is 16 Edward the Second (A.D. 1323), and then brings in last the extract from the Patent Rolls, 5 Edward the Second (A.D. 1312), "Aussint pur coo q'." I have also given the more correct reading of this last Norman-French document, from the copy of it given in vol vii. of the Manx Society; in the original edition of Chaloner, it is fall of misprints. These three documents, with others belonging to the same period, and referring to Henry de Beaumont, printed in the same volume, assist us materially in fixing the dates of the events in Manx History, at the be ginning of the 14th century, though still not without hesitation. In 1305 (34 Edward the First), John de Waldeboef petitioned Edward the First for his rights in the Isle of Man, and was ordered to be heard in the King's Bench (Rotull Parliamentorum) ; and in the same year, Aufrica de Connaught, sister of Magnus, last King of Man, made over her right to her husband, Sir Simon de Montacute, whose son, Sir William, there is reason to believe in or about the same year, obtained the Island, and to pay the expenses to which he had been put, in prosecuting his rights, mortgaged its revenues to Anthony Bee, Bishop of Durham. On the 28th June, 1307, Edward the First, at Caldecote, issued a " Stire facias " to Anthony Bee, to show cause why he should not surrender the Island into his hands. The year fol-lowing, King Edward the Second (in the first year of his reign) granted (as stated in the text) the Island to his favorite, Piers de Gaveston, whom he had made Earl of Cornwall; and then, upon his execution, to Henry de Beaumont (according to the first of the three documents in the text), with Gilbert de Mc Gaskill, as his Lieutenant. In the 3rd year of his reign, Edward the Second resumed to himself the Island, from the hands of Henry de Beaumont (Rot Originalium in Curia Scaccarii, vol. vii., Manx Society, p. 143), and then granted it for life to Anthony Bee, with Gilbert de Me Gaskill as his Senestat. (See Rotuli Scotiae, 4 Edward the Second, vol. vii., Manx Society, p. 149, where, in 1311, °' Gilbert Makasky " is spoken of as " Senescal of the venerable Anthony, Patriarch of Jerusalem and Bishop of Durham"). Anthony Bee died March 3rd of that year; and in the year following (5 Edward the Second), as appears by the Rot. Orig. in curia Scaccarii, vol. vii.: Manx Society. p. 158, the King again granted the Isle of Man to Henry de Beau-mont to hold "for the term of his life, freely and peaceably." But he was the same year a second time deprived of it, and it was taken into the hands of the King of England "to hold so long as that the King shall have received of the issues of those lands, the value of all the worth the said Henry has taken from the lands, and re-ceived contrary to the said decree."-(Rotull Parliamentorum, 5 Edward the Second, A.D. 1312, which is the second of the documents pertaining to Henry de Beaumont, in the text.) In 1313, Robert Bruce took the Isle of Man, and gave it by charter to Randolph, Earl of Moray; but the possession of it seems to have been I still dis-puted, as in the Rot. Patent. et Claus. Cancellarioe Hiberneae, 10 Edward the Second, A.D. 1317, we find a letter of protection to John, Bishop of Sodor, to visit the Island; and also instructions from the King, to his beloved and faithful John de Atay, keeper of his land of Man, to whose custody the King committed the Island, on 6th July, 10 Edward the Second. The King had also given permission, on the 5th of May, of the same year to the Abbot of St. Ives, in Ulster, to go to the Isle of Man, to visit the Abbey of Rushon.-(See vol vii., Manx Society, pp. 168-9-10-11.) It is also evident that the occupation of the Island by the Scotch, after its conquest by Bruce, could have been by no means in force or effectual ; for in 1316, according to the Chronicon Manniæ, Richard de Mandeville and his brothers, with a hand of Irish, taking ad-vantage of the distractions on the Island, landed at Ronaldsway, beat the Manx in an engagement at Wardfell (South Barrule), and roaming over the Island for a month, and plundering it with the Abbey of Rushen, returned at their leisure to their ships, laden with booty.

This Richard de Mandeville appears to have been so well satisfied with this exploit, that he repeated it in 1328 ; for we read again, in the Rot. Pat. et elaus. Cancellarice Hibernioc, 2 Edward the Second (see vol. vii., Manx Society, p. 178), that Richard de Mandeville with a multitude of Scotch felons, bad entered the Island for the purpose of conquering it. The Scotch appear then to have held their ground for a time, since in 1329, Martoline, the Almoner to Murray, Regent of Scotland, was sent to take care of morals and religion in the Island. But in 1333, Edward the Second directed William Taylor, of Carlisle, and others, to seize the Island in his hands, and to safely keep the same.-(See Manx Society, vol. vii., p. 180) ; and on the 8th of June, of the same year, the King committed it to his beloved and faithful William de Montacute, to hold unto the Feast of St. Michael, next ensuing; and still further, on the 9th of August, " remitted and released, and for himself and his heirs quitted claim to the said Sir William Montacute, of all his rights and claim which he had, or in any manner could have to the Island of Man." -(See Rymer's Fcedera, vol. v., p. 558.) Notwithstanding in 1334, Edward Baliol presenting himself to Edward the Third, swore fealty to him for Scotland and the Isles adjacent, and thus got possession of the Isle of Man. On the expulsion from Scot-land of Edward Baliol, who had been intruded by Edward the Third upon the throne, in the place of David the Second, the Isle of Man again fell into the power of the Bruce family, and the inhabitants were obliged to purchase peace from them in 1342, by a fine of 300 marks, obtaining the consent thereto of Sir William Mon-tacute (who had been created Earl of Salisbury, in 1337), and also of King Edward the Third himself.-(Rot. Scotiae, 16 Edward the Third.) In 1343, the King furnishing the Earl of Salisbury with men and shipping to prosecute his right, he was successful in gaining possession of his ancestral throne, and was crowned King of Man. He died, however, the following year, being succeeded by his son William, second Earl of Salisbury, who had to keep up a constant struggle against the Scotch during a great part of his reign of 49 years. In his old age, having un-fortunately slain his son in a tournament at Windsor, he sold his rights to the crown, in 193, to Sir William Scrope, Chamberlain to Richard the Second, and who was created Earl of Wiltshire, in 1397.

NOTE 61.— " HENRICO DE BELLO MONTE." (Page 24.)

The statement made on the shield of Henry de Beaumont, in the accompanying plate of Chaloner, that Alice Beaumont, the wife of Henry de Beaumont, was "daughter and coheiress of Alexander Comin, Earl of Buquhan," appears to be perfectly correct, though other genealogies of that lady have been brought forward ; and there are difficulties in determining her father, Alexander, ever to have been Earl of Buchan.

The most important authority, in support of Chaloner's statement, is that of Wyntoun, in his Chronicle, book 8, chap. 6, vol. ii., p. 54.

" This Alysawndyre eftir that

Of [his] Spews two fagre Dowchtris git ; Henry de Bowmont the eldest

Weddyt, and neist her the yhowngast Schyre John de Ros tuk til his wyf, And fru-th was hyr swa led hys lyf. Bot John that was the elder Brodyr, Erle of Buchan before the tother," &c.

The accurate antiquary Macpherson, in the notes to his edition of Wyntoun, vol. ii., p. 404, on the above passage, says that

" He " (Alexander) " was as certainly Earl of Buchan, as he was father of the wives of Beaumont and Ross; as appears (1st,) by the evidence of Wyntoun, line 296. (2nd,)by a charter of Robert the First to John Ross, son of the Earl of Ross and Margaret Cumin, daughter of the Earl of Buchan.* (3rd,) by the genealogy of the Beaumonts, wherein Henry's wife (Alice), is daughter and coheiress of Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, in Scotland, son of Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan [here follows a quotation from Burton's Description of Leicestershire]. For this, no authority is given but his agreement with Wyntoun, whose work he surely never saw; and with King Robert's charter, proves that he wrote from authentic records. (4th,) from a corrupted paragraph of Fordoun, wherein, though he is confounded with his father Alexander, and his brother John, he is made the father of Beaumont's wife."

The great difficulties (which, however, are capable of explanation) in the way of receiving Wyntoun's, and therefore i1 Lc Pherson's and Chaloner's statement, are the following

Dugdale states (see Peerage, p. 50) that Alice de Beaumont was one of the cousins and heirs of John, Earl of Buchan, Constable of Scotland; according to Wyntoun, she was niece to that Earl of Buchan.

Again, Alexander, the younger brother of John, must be presumed to have died first, from considerations of the following writ, 28th April, 1313, 6 Edward the Second, which also at first sight seems to make Alice de Beaumont the grand-daughter of John, Earl of Buchan.

* In a roll of missing charters by Robert the First, is " Charta Joannis Ross nonne to the Earl of Ross, in tother with Margaret Curnyng, doghter to the Earle of Buchan, the half of Buchan's haill lands within Scotland."-(Buchan, by the Rev. John B. Pratt, M.9. ; Appendix, p. 383.)

Abbreviatio Rotaalorum Originalium, vol, i., p. 198.

EDw. II. } Rex Rogero de Wellesworth esc' Trent' sal'tm. Sciatis quod cum nuper-post mortem Johannis Comyn Comitis de Boghan defuncti, omnes terras &c. Gapi mandaverimus in manum nostram et per inquisicionem &e. accepimus quod predictus Johannes magistrum Wilhelmum Comyn fratrem suam, de duabus partibus Manerii de Shepesved, Villam de Merkynfeld, Whitenton, Bochardeston et Newton, medietatem ville de Rocheby, ville de Whitewick cum parco de Bredon et omnibus dominicis manerii de Whitewick cum pertinentibus preter situm ejusdem manerii, que prefatus Comes tenuit de nobis in capite, per cartam suam feof-faverat ante mortem ejusdem Johannis propter quod cepimus homagium ipsius Wilhelmi &c., tendenda de nobis et heredibus nostris, juxta tenorem litterarum nostrarum patencium, quas ei fieri fecimus de pardonacione transgressionis quam fecit adquirendo sibi terras et tenentia ills sine liceneia nostra, dictusque Wilhelmus advertens se postmodum dictas inquisiciones contra justiciam et secutum fuisse, et in presencia nostra personaliter constitutus, recognoverit se nullum jus habere in terris et tenementis predietis, et ea in manus nostras reddiderit tanquam jus et hereditatem Alicie quam Henricus de Bello Monte duxit in uxorem, et Margarite sororis ejusdem Alicie, neptem et heredem predicti Johannis, cepimus homagium ipsius Henrici de propria parte, ipsos Henricum et Aliciam quam pene etatis reputam licet etatem suam non probaverit ut est moris, &c.-(Rot. 14.)

The Whitwick here mentioned, is also noticed in another writ, bearing out the inscription on the shield in Chaloner:- ° Henry de Beaumont, Lord of Man, and Lord of Whitwick, in Leicester, in right of his wife, &c."

Abbreviatio Placitorum, p. 230.

"Abbas de Gerewedon implicitat Johannem Comyn dominum de Whytewyke et Shepesvede, et viii alios pro capcione, implicate et interfecice centum portorunn suorum in forests de Charnewoode, &c."

Now, I would observe, that though in the first of these writs, the word nept' (neptem) would generally be rendered grand-daughter; and thus Alice de Beaumont would appear to have been not the niece, according to Wyntoun, but the grand-daughter of John Comyn, Earl of Buchan ; yet we have a classical authority (though of late date), for rendering neptem "niece," and as there is no other single word in Latin for niece, we can well understand the legal scribe of the writ using the word neptem. Crawfurd, in his Lives and Characters of the Officers of the State in Scotland, says that "Margaret was the daughter of the Earl of Buchan."

Alexander the Second, Earl of Buchan (of the Comyn family), had three sons-John, Alexander, and William ; the last of whom became Provost of the Canonry of St. Andrews, and Rector of the Church of St. Mary. John succeeded his father as Third Earl of Buchan, in 1288. He married Isabel Macduff, daughter of Duntan,

Earl of Fyffe. The honor of placing the crown upon the head of the Scottish Sovereigns at their coronation, belonged of hereditary right to the family of Macduff;

MICHAELI$ ANNO VICE$$8IM0 ET IN cIrIExTE vICESSIMO PItIMO ED. I. LEie.

and when Robert Bruce was crowned at Scone, in 1306-7, March 27th, this lady (her brother, as appears by the Norman-French document below, being a prisoner in England, and her son (John ?) al)sent at the Manor of Whitwick, in Leicestershire), herself heroically exercised the right, and placed a circlet of gold wire (the Scottish crown having been carried away by Edward the First) upon the head of Robert Bruce. For this she afterwards suffered severely when she fell into the hands of Edward the First, being shut up for six years in the kage or keep, at Berwick Castle. Her husband, in every respect, appears to have retired into private life in England, residing at his Manor of Whitwick, in Leicestershire, where it is probable that he died about 1313. He was certainly dead by April 28th, 1313.

The great difficulty is to determine what family he had; and how his brother Alexander, who cued before him, became Earl of Buchan. There is no doubt but that he had a son; and it is probable that he had at least two daughters.

The following documents seem to bear upon the subject:-

(Ist,) In the Scala Chronica, p. 130, we read, referring to Robert Bruce, "Le dit Robert si fest coroner en rois Descoce a Scone en la feste del Annunciacioun notre Dame, de la Countesse de Boghan, pur absence de Count soun fitz, qui adonges demura en Engleterre a son maner de Vituik ioust Laycestre, a qui l'office del en-courounment des rot's Descoce apartenoit heritablement, abscent le Count de Fiffe qui al hour estoit en garde le roi en Engleterre." This proves that John Comyn, Third Earl of Buchan, had a son, though his name is not given. It Kvas probably John, who may have been married, and had daughters Alice and Margaret, Beau-mont end Ross respectively; but of this we have no evidence whatever.

The next document is a charter of William de Lindesay, published by the Spalding Club, in the Antiquities of the Shires of Aberdeen and Ban, f, vol. iv., p. 4, and said to be (though I think incorrectly), of the date circa 1310. By it William de Lindesay conveys a grant to the Abbey of Deir, "pro salute mee et antecessorum meorum et successorum, et pro salute Margarite Comitisse de Bucquhan quondam sponse mee, et Alicie de Lindesay prioris sponse nice," &c. This lady (Margaret, Countess of Buchan), must surely have been either the daughter of John, Third Earl of Buchan, or the relict of his son, or just possibly the daughter of that son; and if the relict, and -the presumed date of the charter be correct, then it would follow that this son must have been dead some time prior to 1310.

If the following charter refer to this lady (though I believe it does not), we should then be able to determine not only that John, Third Earl of Buchan, had a son, but that certainly his name was John; and that he, too, had a son, named Admor or Aymer. It is recorded in Abbrerviatio Rotulorum Originalium, vol. i., p. 209. NOTTINGH' ~ Rex &c, salutem. Sciatis quod cum nos nuper considerantes qualiter

NonHT' bone memorie Johannes Comyn filius Johannis Comyn duclum

ED. II. defuncti erga dominum Edwardum nuper Regem Anglie patrem nostrum, et postmodum erga nos fideliter se gesserit &c. quod terre et tenentia in parti-bus ScOcie Per Scotos inimicos et rebelles nostros vastantur et destruuntur, volentesgLie eundem Johannem eo pretextu prospicere gratiose, concessimus ei maneria subscripts L

viz. :-Manerium de Mannesfeld in Comitatu Nottinghamiensi cum soka et firma de Lyneby et cum molendinis de Carbelton in valorem quinquaginta et quatuor librorum et manerium de Harewell, in comitatu Berkhamionsi, in valorem triginta librarum per annum, tenenda in subsidium Expensarum suarum et sustentacionis sue quamdiu nobis placuerit.

Nos eciam volentes Margarite que fait uxor prefati Johannis qui in obsequio nostro &a, concessimus ei maneria predieta tenenda &c., in subsidium sustentacionis sue et Admori filii eorundem Johannis et Margarite quamdiu nobis placuerit.

It must, however, be observed, that the expression in the above charter "Margarite que fait uxor prefati Johannis," indicates that Margaret was dead at the time of the grant to her husband, John Comyn, so that she could not have been the same Margaret who was the second wife of William de Lindesay.

I am therefore inclined tõ believe that Margaret de Lindesay was a daughter of John Comyn, Third Earl of Buchan, and that her brother was dead at the time of her marriage with William de Lindesay ; and though, if the assumed date of the charter to the Abbey of Deir be correct, her mother Isabel, daughter of Duncan, Earl of Fyffe, was then alive, she might then be termed Countess of Buchan, since her mother, confined for presumed rebellion, in the castle at Berwick, might be considered as having forfeited all her titles, and was not released till April 28th, 1313, when she was given into custody of her nephew-in-law, Henry de Beaumont, her husband being dead.

In the genealogical table (Appendix D.), I have inserted another daughter Violet, married to William Urquhart, of Cromarty, styled De Monte Alto. For it is said that this William Urquhart married secondly Violet, daughter of John Comyn, Earl of Buchan and Lord of Strathbolgie (for a time on the forfeiture of David, Eleventh Earl of Athol) ; and that Hugh, Earl of Ross, whose daughter had been William Urquhart's first wife, was so incensed at his marrying a Comyn, that he demanded his forfeiture. But William Urquhart always proving faithful to Robert Bruce, was restored to his estates, by David the Second.

The question may arise here who was that Margaret Comyn mentioned as his great-grandmother, by the Earl of Dunbar and March, in a letter which he wrote to King Henry the Fourth of England, in 1400? wherein he says " Gif Dame Alice de Beaumont was your grand-dame (she was great-grandmother-see Appendix D.), dame Marjorie Cumyn was my grand-dame on to'ther side, so that I am hot of the feirde degree of kyn to you."-(See Pinkerton's History, and Appendix -D.) The inference from the above letter is that this Marjorie was sister to Alice Beaumont, both being, as assumed if not proved above, daughters of Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan. But Margaret Ross is always presiØed to have had no family, and this is given as the reason (though I do not consider it conclusive in those troubled times), why the " half of the haill lands of Buchan, within Scotland," were disposed of by her husband, John, son of the Earl of Ross, to his elder brother, as before remarked in note 59. It is, however, not improbable that Margaret Ross may have survived her husband, John de Ross, and then married the Earl of Dunbar and March, and by him had a family. Or, the Earl of Dunbar and March, in 1400, in writing to Henry the Fourth, may have mistaken a generation, for he was descended from Bridget Comyn, the aunt of the above Margaret Ross.-(See Appendix D.)

To suppose that Marj orie, the great-grandmother of the Earl of Dunbar and March, was a sister of Alice Beaumont, and not the same person as Margaret Ross; and that Margaret Ross was the sister of Violet, and daughter of John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, can hardly be made to agree with the charters I have above referred to, and would be inconsistent with the statement of Wyntoun, above quoted, that Margaret Ross was the daughter of Alexander Comyn, and sister of Alice Beaumont,

Again, with reference to the Margaret, the wife of John Comyn, and mother of Aymer Comyn, mentioned in the charter of Edward the Second, above given, out of Abbreviatio Rotulorum Originalium, vol. i., p. 209; I believe that she had nothing to do with any of the above Margarets, but that John Comyn, therein named as her husband, and son of John Comyn, `° dudum defuncti," was John, the son of the Second Red Comyn, murdered by Robert Bruce. This John Comyn fled to England upon the murder of his father, in 1306-7 ; and it is stated (in Sir Harris Nicholas's Historic Peerage of England, p. 123 : new edition, edited by William Courthorpe, Esq.,) that he died in 1325, leaving his two sisters-Joan, wife of David, Earl of Athol, and Elizabeth, wife of Richard, Lord Talbot (from whom are descended the Earls of Shrewsbury)-his co-heirs." In a note on the above passage by the editor, it is added "his son Adomer, or Aymer Comyn, died, vit. Pat. A.D. 1316, and by an inquest taken in the same year, his aunts, named in the text, were found to be his heirs." The mother of this John Comyn being a sister of Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, we can easily understand how her son came to get the christian name of Aymor, which is otherwise entirely foreign to the Comyn family.

Taking all the above-mentioned circumstances into consideration, I think it most probable that John Comyn, Third Earl of Buchan, on the death of his son, and of his daughter, Margaret de Lindesay (his daughter Violet being married to William Urquhart, a favorer of Robert Bruce), made over in his own lifetime, his title of -Earl of Buchan to his brother Alexander, the father of Alice Beaumont and her sister Margaret; and thus our author will appear perfectly correct in saying that Henry de Beaumont, Lord of Man, was °° Lord of Witwic, in Leicester, in right of his wife, daughter and co-heiress of Alexander Comin, Earl of Buquhan."

How the Comyn family came to be interested in Manx affairs, we may learn from the following considerations, as shown in the notes above, and the Appendices A, B, C, D.

John, the Black Comyn, was descended through his mother Marian, daughter of Alan, Lord of Galloway, from Somerled, Thane of Argyle, who conquered Godred the Black, King of Man, at Ramsey, on Jan. 6th, 1156, and placed Dugald, his eldest son (by Affrica, daughter of Olave Kleining, King of Man), on the throne of the Isles. There was a further connection through Marian's illegitimate brother' Thomas Mc Dhu Alan, who married the daughter of Reginald, King of Man.

Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, had a similar connection through his wife, Elizabeth, the daughter of Helena, Countess of Winchester, daughter of Alan, Lord of Galloway.

John Comyn (probably the Second Red Comyn), in conjunction with Alexander Stewart, conquered the Isle of Man for the Scotch, in 1270.

John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, had a grant to open lead mines in the Calf of Man, in 1292.

The mother of John de Ergadia, who had large possessions in the Isle of Man, and whose brother Duncan defended Rushen Castle against Robert Bruce, in 1313, was the daughter of John, the First Red Comyn.

Alice Comyn, wife of Henry de Beaumont, was Queen of Man, in 1312.

Egidia Comyn, third daughter of Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, married Malise, Earl of Strathern, the son of Mary de Ergadia, who was Queen of Man, in 1249, being then wife of Reginald, King of Man.

NOTE 62.— "PRESENTING A CAST OF FAULCONS." (Page 28.)

This tenure was kept up till 1820, when John, Fourth Duke of Athol, who had been Lord of Man for 45 years, rendered the accustomed service of a cast of falcons, at the coronation of George the Fourth.

NOTE 63.— "SURMOUNTETH THEM ALL." (Page 29.)

At the Restoration, the Isle of Man reverted to the Derby family; and Charles, Eighth Earl of Derby (the son of the James who was beheaded at Bolton), became Lord of Man. The last Lord of Man of the Derby family was James, second son of the above Charles, who succeeded his elder brother William, as Tenth Earl of Derby, in 1702. His nephew William, son of the above William, dying without issue, and before his father, in 1700, and James also dying without issue in 1735, James Murray, Second Duke of Athol, descended from Amelia Sophia, the youngest daughter of James, Seventh Earl of Derby, became Lord of Man in 1736.-(See Appendix E.)

NOTE 64.— " JOHN CHRISTIAN." (Page 29.)

See Note 65, below.

NOTE 65.— " WILLIAM CHRISTIAN, RECEIVER." (Page 29.)

William Christian (or, as the Manx call him "Illiam Dhone," i.e., William the brown haired), was the son of the Deemster, Ewan Christian, of Ronaldsway, near Castle-town. He first appears in history in connection with a petition presented in 1643, to James, Seventh Earl of Derby, who was then in the Island, against Ewan Christian, his father, in behalf of an infant, who was said to have a claim to the estate of Ronaldsway. The prayer of the petition, as stated in the Earl's letter to his son, in Peck's Desiderata Curiosa (see vol. iii., Manx Society, p. 50), was to the effect " that there might be a fair trial ; and when the right was recovered, that I would grant them a lease thereof, &c. This being in `the tenure of the straw,' and a motion to me which the Deemster may think pleasing, it will doubtless startle him." .

It is well known in Manx History that after Goddard Crovan had conquered the Isle of Man, he divided it amongst the natives and those of his followers who chose to remain, on the terms that none should venture to claim their holdings as hereditary property, but simply as tenants at will, to the King. This stipulation was known by the name of "the tenure of the straw." Virtually the people had under this tenure held their property, and transmitted it as hereditary; paying to the Lord a small rent, like to a fee-farm in England. The Stanley family claimed by charter all the rights pertaining to any former sovereign, and the Seventh Earl of Derby being dissatisfied with these rents, was anxious to create a tenure more profitable for himself, by substitu4ing leases for three lives. An endeavour was made by the partisans of the Earl to persuade the people that under the "tenure of the straw " having no title deeds, their estates were insecure, but that leases would be equivalent to title deeds, and though nominally for limited periods, made their lands really descendible from father to son. In order to induce them the more readily to surrender their estates, one of the Deemsters made a show of surrendering his lands, at the same time entering into a private arrangement with the Earl of Derby, and shortly after obtaining an Act of Tynwald, reinstating him in his possessions.

Ewan Christian, the father of Illiam Dhone, saw very plainly that if the above-mentioned petition were heard, the hearing would probably go against him, since it was promised by the petition that the infant, if successful, would resign his " tenure of the straw," and accept instead a lease of three lives. He therefore decided that it would be best to resign Ronaldsway to his son Wiiliam, who thereupon accepted the lease, and named his own descendants for the three lives. This proceeding seems to have been so far acceptable to the Earl, on account of the influence of so high an example upon others, that in the year 1648, William Christian was appointed to the post of Receiver-General, and appears to have been taken into the confidence of the Earl and his family. The same year, however, his elder brother John, who had been deputy to his father, the Deemster, was, in consequence of presumed disaffection to the government, confined in Peel Castle, until he "should enter into bonds to be of good behaviour, and not attempt to depart from the Isle without licence." There is no doubt but that the Earl had acted with much severity towards various members of the Christian family, as we have seen in a previous note. He regarded them as treacherous and disloyal, and tormenters of sedition, but more particularly as too powerful in the Island, and the greatest obstacles to the carrying out his views re-specting the '° tenure of the straw." Yet as far as Illiam Dhone himself was con-cerned, there is no evidence to shew that he was ever treated but with the greatest consideration by the Earl of Derby; and it is plain that he was trusted with the utmost confidence, in all his family matters. On the Earl's leaving the Island, for the last time, to join the standard of Charles the Second, he left Illiam Dhone with the command of the Insular troops, and the care of his Countess and children. He was therefore bound to their defence to the utmost of his ability, by every principle of honor, if not of gratitude.

There is much obscurity still hanging over the acts by which he not only forfeited the confidence reposed in him, but, according to the charge made against him at a later period, on his trial, showed himself in the eyes of the Derby family a traitor.

The general story is, that on the appearance of the Parliamentary troops, under Colonel Duckenfield, at Ramsey, shortly after the execution of the Earl of Derby, at Bolton, he not only prevented the escape of the Countess and her family from the Island, but carried them prisoners to the invading army. Yet it must be said on the other hand, that neither does his name appear amongst those who treated with Colonel Duckenfield, on that occasion, concerning the terms for the surrender of the Island; nor in the accusation upon his trial is any mention made of any such delivery of the Countess and family, into the enemy's hands.

As far as we can judge by his dying speech, and the counts upon which he was tried and condemned to death, his offence was this : as soon as the execution of the Earl was made known in the Island, a number of the inhabitants banded themselves together to obtain from the Countess a redress of grievances, and more especially of that old one respecting the " tenure of the straw;" and within eight days of the Earl's death, they drew up a petition to the Countess, in which these were embodied. There can be little doubt but that William Christian threw himself at once into their cause, placed himself at their head, and carried the petition to the Countess. This is what was intended in the count that "he was at the head of an insurrection against the Countess of Derby, in 1651, assuming the power unto himself, and de-priving her Ladyship, his Lordship, and heirs thereof." According to Illiam Dhone's dying speech, her Ladyship accepted the petition, and entered into terms with the petitioners. Shortly after, on the arrival of the army under Colonel Duckenfield, off Ramsey, Sir Philip Musgrave, the Governor of the Island, at the head of the Manx troops, marched against him. Negotiations however ensued; a deputation (John Christian, Ewan Curphey, and William Standish) from the Manx to the Parliamentary forces, proceeded on board the fleet to confer upon terms for the surrender of the Island. The only stipulation on the part of the natives was "that they might enjoy their lands and liberties " as formerly they had. Of the subsequent capture of the Countess of Derby, we have no record.

William Christian, as has been before said, was appointed Receiver in 1648. He continued to hold that office under Fairfax, and in addition was appointed in 1656, to succeed Matthew Cadwell, as Governor. Unfortunately the charge of covetousness which was made by the Earl of Derby against his family, appears strongly to attach to him. The receipt of the sequestrated Bishopric, which Fairfax designed for the maintenance of Grammar Schools and increase of stipends of the Clergy, came into his hands; and when Chaloner came into office as Governor, in 1658, it was found that he had embezzled the money. William Christian fled from the Island; and Chaloner not only sequestrated his estates, but imprisoned his elder brother John, for aiding his escape. He was an exile from his native land three years, but his son George was permitted to return to the Island to settle his father's affairs. On the Restoration, Christian went to London, as he says "to get a sight of the King; " but being discovered, he was arrested for a debt of £20,000, and cast into the Fleet prison, where he continued a year. On gaining at length his liberty, he determined to return to the Isle of Man, under the imagined security of the act of amnesty and indemnity, of King Charles the Second.-(See Petition of William Christian to Charles the Second, A.D. 1660, vol. ix., Manx Society, p. 151.) By a mandate, however, of Charles, the Eighth Earl of Derby, dated at Lathom, September, 1662, Illiam Dhone was proceeded against for " all his illegal acts at, before, or after 1651 ; " and the majority of the court, whom we can hardly regard in any other light than as a packed jury, overruling the plea of general amnesty as not availing in the Isle of Man, in case of treason against a member of the reigning family, he was hastily sentenced to be "shot to death, that thereupon his life may depart from his body." The sentence was carried out upon Hango Hill, at the head of Castletown Bay, on the 2nd of January, 1662-3. In answer to his petition to King Charles the Second, an order was issued on Jan. 16th, to the Earl of Derby, for sending up William Christian to be heard before His Majesty and Council, touching the matters wherewith he was charged, but his execution had already taken place. -(See vol. ix., Manx Society, p. 152.) His sequestrated estates were however subsequently restored to the family, in which they have continued to the present time: William Watson Christian, Esq., Coroner-General for the Isle of Man, is his lineal representative.

The following entry occurs in the Parish Register of Malew :- ` Mr. William Christian of Ronaldsway, late Receiver, was shot to death at Hango Hill, 2nd January, 1662. He died most penitently and most courageously, made a good end, prayed earnestly; and next day was buried in the chancel of Kirk Malew."

By Manxmen his memory is held sacred, as that of one who died in the cause of popular liberty. The documents pertaining to his history, will be given amongst the publications of the Manx Society ; edited by James Burman, Esq., F.R.A.S., Secretary to H. E. the Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Man.

NOTE 66,-" ROBERT TYNSLEY, ATTURNEY-GENERAL." (Page 29.)

The Tynsleys or Tyldesleys of the Friary, in Kirk Arbory, were long settled in the Isle of Man, and have only, so to speak, recently become extinct. The first of that name to be met with in the Insular Records, is Thurston Tyldesley, Receiver-General of the Isle of Man, in 1532; most probably a scion of the Lancashire family of Tyldesley of Tyldesley, in that county, from whom was sprung Sir T. S. Tyldesley, a Major-General in the Royal Army, who was slain in Wigan-lane, Aug. 25th, 1651, when fighting under James, Seventh Earl of Derby, and who had been with his Lordship a short time before, in the Isle of Man. Another Thomas was Water-Bailiff, in 1632; and Deputy-Governor, in 1640. Richard Tyldesley was one of the Council and Clerk of the Rolls, from 1647 to 1668; and in this latter year is one of the attesting witnesses to the grant of Bishop Barrow, of the estates of Ballagilley and Hango Hill, in Malew Parish, to certain trustees for the founding of an Academic-Students' Fund, which has since grown into King William's College, at Castletown. The other attesting witnesses to the grant, are Henry Nowell, Governor; Richard Stephenson and Thomas Norris, Deemsters. Richard Tyldesley married Isabel, daughter of the above Thomas Norris.

The last of the name was Margaret, daughter of Thomas Tyldesley, of the Friary, and who married at Kirk Arbory, in November, 1795, Benjamin Greetham, Esq., of Liverpool. (P. B.)

NOTE 67.— " BANGOR, SABAL, AND ST. TRINIONS." (Page 40.)

These Abbey Courts are still held in the Queen's name, and under her proper officers. Anciently the following persons were Barons of the Isle: viz., the Bishop ; the Abbot of Rushen; the Prioress of Douglas; the Abbot of Furness ; the Prior of Whithern or St. Trinians, in Galloway; the Abbot of Bangor, in Ireland; the Abbot of Sabal ; and the Prior of St. Bede or St. Bees, in Cumberland. In 1422, these Barons were summoned by Sir John Stanley, Lord of the Isle, to come in and do fealty to him. After some demur, the three first submitted, and did their faith and fealty to the Lord; the five latter not being on the Isle, "were called in, but came not."-(See Sacheverell's Survey, p. 67, Manx Society's edition.) They were therefore "deemed by the Deemsters" to come in their proper persons within forty days, and if they came not, then all their temporalities were to be seized into the Lord's hands. It appears tolerably certain that the Barons of Bangor, Sabal, and St. Trinians, made no appearance. They were either too far off or too independent. Though we have no record that the Abbot of Furness or the Prior of St. Bees, came in and did fealty, it is not improbable that the latter did so, as we find that in later times the Barony in the Isle of Man attached to that Priory, and which lies in the Parish of St. Maughold, a little to the north of the Dhoon River, on the sea coast, still continued in possession of the fraternity, and it was exchanged with the Christian family in Cumberland, for lands in that county, lying more convenient to St. Bees; the Christian family being possessed of lands both in the Isle of Man and Cumberland. The Barony in the Isle of Man, anciently belonging to St. Bees, thus came into private hands, and appears to be independent of the Insular Courts of Baron, belonging to the Queen. The subscription of the Abbot of Rushen may have been accepted on behalf of Furness, which was the mother of the Abbey of Rushen.

NOTE 68.— " THE GOVERNOUR, THE TWO DEEMSTERS." (Page 41.)

One clause in the oath of admission of the Governor or Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Man, to office, is somewhat remarkable: "You shall truly and uprightly deal between our Sovereign Lady the Queen and her people, and as indifferently betwixt party and party, as this sta, f now standeth, as far as in you lyeth."

In the Lex Scripta of the Isle of Man, we find that very stringent laws were enacted in support of his authority. " Whoever shall speak any scandalous speech against the Governour, touching either his oath, state of government of the Isle, or what might tend to his defamation, and not be able to prove the same, shall be fined in ten pounds, and have his ears cut off." " if any person rise up against the Governour sitting in any Tynwald Court, wherein he representeth the Lord's person, they are to be deemed traitors, and to be sentenced to death without any inquest passing on them by the Deemster. That they be first drawn after wild horses, then hanged, and afterwards quartered, and their heads struck off and set upon the castle tower, over the town, with one quarter there, the second quarter to be set up in Holland Town (i.e., Hohme Town or Peel), the third at Ramsey, and the fourth at Douglas."

The oath administered to the Deemsters on their admission to office, is still more singular : "By this book, and by the holy contents thereof, and by the wonderful works that God hath miraculously wrought in heaven above, and in the earth beneath, iii six days and seven nights; I (A.B.), do swear that I will, withoutrespect of favour or friendship, love or gain, consanguinity or affinity, envy or malice, execute the laws of this Isle justly betwixt our Sovereign Lady the Queen and her subjects, within this Isle, and betwixt party and party, as indifferently as the herring back-bone doth lie in the midst of the fish. So help me God and by the contents of this book."

NOTE 69.— " CASTLE PEEL." (Page 47.)

Some persons may feel interested in learning how this Castle and Rushen Castle were defended in the olden time. The following are the regulations ordained by an Act of Tynwald, at a Court holden 21th June, 1610 :-

" Whereas we are enjoined by the right worshipful John Ireland Esq Lieut & Captn of this Isle by Vertue of our oaths to give notice of our knowledge of the ancient order and duties observed by the souldiers of the castles of Rushen and Peele, in our times and memories, and for that purposs wee twelve, whose names are subscribed, were chosen, whereof six be sworne souldiers at the castle Rushen, and six at the castle Peele, upon advised consideration had, wee find and knowe, That all the ancient orders, customes, and duties to be performed in the said castles, are extant in the rowles, and enrolled in the bookes of the statutes of this Isle, and these which we do add hereafter are, and have beene, customarie and usual.

" First, At the entrance and admittance of any souldier to either of either of the said castles, the ordinarie oath was to this purpose:

The oath of a souldier.

" First, Our allegiance to our soveraigne, next our faith, fedilitie, and service to the right honoble earls of Derbie and their heires, our duties and our obedience to our lieutenant or cheefe governour and our constable in lawful causes, and noe further.

Souldiers to appear at the castle gates at the sound of the drum

" Item. It hath been accustomed and still continued, that every souldier at the sound of the drume, or ringinge of the alarums bell (the heareing or knowinge of the same) shall forthwith make his present appearance in the gate of either castle, then and there to pforme what shall be enjoyned one them by the lieutnnt, or the constable in his absence.

Night bell to be runge, and the guarde set.

"Iten. It hath been accustomed that night bell should be runge a little after the sun settinge, and that by the porter, and the constable and his deputie with a sufficient guard to be in the castle, for the saufe keepinge and defence of the same.

Porter to locke the gates.

"Item. It hath been accustomed and continued, that the constable or his deputie should goo with the wardens to the castle gates, and there cause the porter to locke the castle gates and then the watch to be forthhwith set.

Concerning the porter and watch men

" Item. It hath been accustomed, that at either castle there hath beene two standinge porters, who have by course every other weeke held the staff, and given attendance at the gate during one whole yeare, beginnge at Michallmas ; the said porters to be nominated by the constable, and then allowed by the lieutnnt and governour, and two standinge watchmen in like manner for the nightlie watchinge upon the walls;

Pettie watch.

and every officer, souldier, and servant, is to doe his pettie watch from May till Michallmas.

Time of opening gates.

"Item. It hath been accustomed, that the castle gates should not be opened by any man after lockeinge at night (the governor onelie excepted) until the watchman rings the day bell which was to be done so scone as the watchman could pfectli discover the land markes bounded within a mile and a halfe of either castle; which beinge done, the porter was accustomed to goo about the walles, and looke that all things be cleere, and forthwith to returne to the constable or his deputie, and affirms all things to be as the watchman had formerlie spoken to the constable or his deputie.

"It hath been accustomed, that the souldiers should ward in the castle gates one day in the weeke, and they of the castle Rushen to lye within the house the night before their warding day, and the souldiers of the castle Peele to lie in the night before, and the night after, in respect the tyd fallinge out uncertainlie, and for more saufe guard of that castle, beinge nearer to our enemies the Redshankes.

" It hath been accustomed and still continued, that one of the wardens of the inward ward at castle Rushen shall at night locke the inner gate, and keepe the keys thereof to himselfe till mornings, and hath pformed all things therein as constable that night in that ward.

The receiver at Michellmas chuseth a steward.

" It hath been accustomed, that the receiver of either castle hath at Michellmas made yearly chaise of a steward, who hath beene allowed by the lieutnnt or captain for the time beinge

The souldiers to work the Lord's hay.

" It hath been accustomed and still continued, that the souldiers of either castle have wrought the Lord's hay, whensoever they have been thereunto called.

Two gunners to have either ofthem apprentics and one of them to lie in every night.

" It hath been accustomed, that Mr. Gunner of either castle hath had allowance of an apprentice, and that either himselfe or his apprentice hath every night linen in the said castle.

Notwithstanding all theise orders, usues, and customer, here set downe, the lieutnnt, captain, or chiefs governor for the time beinge, in his wisdome and aceordinge to the necessitie of time set downe orders and decrees for both castles in all lawfull causes, and repeal the same againe, which every inferiour officer and soldier is to obey by reason of his oath. Lieut. to repeal, as need requireth these or-any of their orders."Thomas Moore, Henerey Garrett, The. Whetstone, The. Lea, Wm. Lassell, Edward Lucas, Will. Bridgen, John Crellin, Jo. Gauen, Hugh Lambe, Rich. Fisher, John. Colbin.

"John Ire Land, Lieutnnt

.At castle Rushens the 20th day of July 1610.

"William Lucas, Will. Ratcliffe, The. Sainsbury, Da. Ewan Xian."

The Crypt, under the choir of Peel Cathedral, was generally used as an Ecclesiastical prison in later times, though the Civil Government had confined prisoners there in earlier periods of Manx history: viz., Thomas, Earl of Warwick, in 1397; and Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of Gloucester, in the 15th century. A view of this Crypt is given in a highly valuable paper, by the Rev. J. L. Petit, M.A., in the Archaeological Journal, No. 9, p. 49. This prison-house is referred to, though erroneously stated to be under the burying ground, in the following statement of Manx sufferers, made in the Abstract of the Sufferinys of the People called Quakers, above referred to in the note upon James Chaloner (No. 2). The Quakers appear to have been equally obnoxious to the Puritans and Episcopalians; but the persecutions which they endured, did not remove them from the Island, as it is recorded that in the days of Bishop Wilson, they were the only dissenters on the Isle of Man, and that he lived on friendly terms with them.

" In 1663, William Callow and Evan Christian, with the said Evan's father, 80 years of age, were committed to Peel Castle, under pretence of absence from Church ; but after sixteen days were set at liberty, by order of the Bishop (Isaac Barrow), who came to tho Island to be sworn.

" In 1664, they, with some others, were again imprisoned, by means of an order from two Priests, Judges of the Bishop's Court, in Peel Castle, and kept there from 22nd of March, 1664, till the 7th July, 1667."

The order referred to, was in the following terms:-" We have received orders from our Revd Ordinary, to admonish the Quakers to conform and come to Church, or be committed until they submit to law; and forasmuch as they refuse after several charges and publications in the Parish Church, but continue their meetings and re-fractoriness to all Government of the Church, and are therefore censured to be committed to St. German's Prison, and there let them remain until orders be given to the contrary, and for so doing, this shall be your discharge.

ROBERT PARR, JOHN HARRISON. "P.S. If they refuse to be committed by you, call for the assistance of a Soldier from Capt. Ascoe. Let the Sumner put this in execution immediately."

" Five women were committed: viz., Jane Christian, Jane Kennell (Cannell ?), Ann Christian, Mary Callow, and Mary Christian. Of these five women, one was 74 years of age, and her son then in prison. Another, 62 years of age. A third poor woman, with three children; one of them sucking at the breast, she took with her. The fourth, the wife of one not called a Quaker, but having a large family and many children. The fifth, a servant of William Callow, whom they brought away from her sick mistress. These were put in the dungeon under the burying ground, where the men also were. When the Sumner brought them to the lowest and deepest part of that dismal dungeon, he took off his hat, and very formally pronounced what he called the Bishop's curse; viz., ' I do now before the standers by deliver you up unto St. German's prison, by the law of my Lord Bishop and his Clergy, you being persons cast out of the Church by excommunication ; and I do take witness that I do deliver you over from the power of the Bishop and his law, to be and continue the Earl of Derby's prisoners.'

" On the 15th of April 1665, Govr Henry Nowell came to the Castle, and read to the prisoners an order from the Earl of Derby, that they must forthwith be transported into some other land.

"On the 29th of April, Thos. Harrison and John Woods told them they were come by the Deputy-Governor's order, to admonish them to conform to the Church, or else they must be banished forthwith."

It would appear that they were sent to Dublin, and thence sent back to the Isle of Man, as there is extant an order from the Mayor of Dublin, for carrying the prisoners back to the isle ofMan; also, the certificate of the Captain of the vessel, dated 7th October, 1665, that they had been landed at Whitehaven ; and a Magistrate's order for carrying them from Whitehaven to the Isle of Man, 401 Nov., 1665, and signed Jas. Lamplugh. It is presumed that they were again committed to Peel Castle, and continued there till 1667. An account of repairs to Peel Cathedral and Bishop's Court, are given in Appendix H.

NOTE 70.— "MOST SUITABLE TO ITS POVERTY AND DISTANCE FROM ENGLAND." (Page 51.)

High testimony has been borne by eminent lawyers and writers, to the excellency of the Manx Legislative Code. " There is one little barren spot," says Sacheverell, " where law and justice, true religion, and primitive integrity, flourished in contempt of poverty, and all things the world calls misfortune." In Ward's Ancient Records of the Isle of Man, we read "As no people are more blessed, so none are more happy and content than the Manx, under their venerable laws, and simple, primitive, I had almost said patriarchal constitution. Our orderly state was well described to me by a traveller, I accidentally met, two years since, on the Continent. ' I have lately been visiting,' he said, 'the Isle of Man; and I found there what I did not believe existed, a legislature governing wholly and solely for the public good; a people desiring nothing less than to send Members to Parliament; and a Bishop, happy in his freedom from the House of Lords."'

Coke, in his Fourth Institute, chap. 69, says " The laws are more strictly carried into execution, and with less trouble, than in any other place in the world." Crutwell, in his preface to Bishop Wilson's Works, states in reference to the Manx Ecclesiastical Code (the Canons of the Manx Church, which are also Statute law), that Lord Chancellor King was so much pleased with these Constitutions, that he said "If the ancient discipline of the Church were lost, it might be found in all . its purity in the Isle of Man."

NOTE 71.— " HARDLY DESERVETH A CHAPTER BY ITSELF." (Page 52.)

The Act of Revestment, 1765, and its completion by the entire transfer of all the rights and privileges of the Duke of Athol, to the British Crown, in 1825, leading to the suppression of smuggling, a great impetus was thus given to legitimate trade, and the developement of the great natural resources of the Isle of Man. Its trade now fully deserves a chapter in any history of it which may be written. The present exports of grain, green crop, and cattle, are very extensive, reaching from 12,000 to 15,000 tons of potatoes per annum, more than 20,1100 quarters of wheat, besides a proportionate amount of barley and oats, chiefly grown in the upland districts. The cattle, horses, pigs, poultry, butter, and eggs, find a ready market in Liverpool and Whitehaven. The Manx, however, continue to look to their fisheries for some of the largest returns. The average annual produce of the fisheries, is upwards of £60,000. In herrings alone, besides those consumed fresh, both on the Island and the surrounding countries, there are about 40,000 barrels annually cured, the price of which paid to the fishermen, is on an average £1. 10s. Od. per barrel. To this must be added the cod, ling, salmon, and lobster fisheries. The export of minerals-copper, lead, zinc, silver, and iron-reaches a large amount; the Island itself being one of the richest mining districts in the United Kingdom. The produce of the mines (as was stated in Note 17) has of late years reached the total of 2,600 tons of lead; copper 350 tons; zinc 3,181 tons; iron 1,650 tons; silver 57,000 ounces. The stone quarries of Poolvash, Scarlet, Spanish Head, and Mica Mount near Foxdale, have afforded many hundred of tons of marble, limestone, flagstone, and granite. There is also a very considerable quantity of limestone burnt into lime, at Ballahott and Port St. Mary. The Manx have in addition manufactures of sail cloth, ropes and nets, woollen goods, paper, soap, and farina. The amount of trade carried on now by the Isle of Man, may be judged of by the fact that the import duties (which are by no means heavy) reach the figure of upwards of £32,000 per annum.

NOTE 72.— " AT LANQUET POINT." (Page 56.)

This Fort was erected by James, the Seventh Earl of Derby, on St. Michael's Isle, at the western extremity of Langness, in 1645, as appears by a record under that date, in the Liber Scaccar. preserved in Rushen Castle, which states that on the 26th of April, of that year, it was named Derby Fort, in honour of Charlotte, Countess of Derby, daughter of Claude de Tremouille, Duke of Touars; who, on the corresponding day of the previous year, had beat off the enemy from their attack on Lathom House. Over the doorway may still be seen an Earl's coronet, with the half obliterated date 1645. For an account of the miraculous escape of James, Seventh Earl of Derby, when leaving this Fort in 1650, see Note 5 supra; and my Story of Rushen Castle and Rushen Abbey, p. 35.

NOTE 73.— " THE CASTLE OF RUSHEN." (Page 56.)

The Castle of Rushen was according to Manx tradition, founded by the Danish Guthred or Godred, the son of Orry, in 960. A portion of.an oak beam, which was taken down in repairing the Castle, some years ago, and is still preserved, bears the date 947 (which was the year of Guthred's accession), and some seemingly mæsogothic characters. Considerable doubt is thrown upon the assertion that this inscription was contemporaneous with the building, from the circumstance that Arabic numerals were hardly introduced into Europe, so early as the 10th century. The Keep, as far as we can judge by the architecture, is of the 12th century. The Castle is in an admirable state of preservation. Subterranean chambers were discovered very recently, during certain alterations which were made last year.

NOTE 74.— " THERE IS A BLOCK HOUSE AT DUGLAS." (Page 56.)

The Block House at Douglas stood at the extremity of the Pollock rock, near the entrance of the harbour of Douglas. A view of it is given in Feltham's Tour, vol. vi., Manx Society. It was a Lock-up at the beginning of the present century, but was taken down in harbour improvements, by an order of the Insular Legislature, in 1818. Formerly watch and ward used to be kept in this building, for the security of the Port of Douglas.

NOTE 75.— " A FORT IN THE MIDDEST OF THE ISLAND." (Page 56.) Probably this was an earthwork, of which remains exist at Ballachurry; in Andreas parish, not far from St. Jude's Church. It consists of an internal rectangular area, 144 feet long, by 120 wide, at the corners of which are four bastions, the tops of which are about 48 feet square, all constructed of the earth which has been thrown up out of the ditch surrounding the encampment.