Crispinian, whose statues were placed upon it *. At the dawn of the Reformation, in 1559, this church was completely spoiled, from a mistaken principle of religious zeal; which intolerant spirit of bigotry and superstition has tended more to retard the progress of genuine religion in Scotland, than all the enemies that ever persecution raised against it. On the 18th June 1567, two days after Queen Mary's imprisonment, the Earl of Glencairn, with a savage malignity, laid waste this once beautiful chapel, broke in pieces its most valuable furniture, and laid the greater part of its statues and other ornaments in ruins +. At the suppression of this monastery, it was the richest foundation in Scotland. Besides the towns, churches, and chaplainries mentioned in the charter, it was possessed of an yearly income amounting to two thousand nine hundred and twenty-six pounds, eight shillings, and sixpence Scots; besides twenty-seven chalders, ten bolls of wheat; forty chalder and nine bolls of bear; thirty-four chalder, fifteen bolls, three firlots, three pecks and a half of oats; five hundred and one capons; twenty-four hens; twenty-four salmon; twelve loads of salt, and swine without number ‡. This stately edifice, together with the choir and cross of its church, was completely destroyed by the English, about the middle of the 16th century, and nothing left standing but the body of the church, which was a magnificent Gothic structure. The brazen font of curious workmanship was carried away by Sir Richard Lea, Kt. captain of the English pioneers, who presented it to the church of St Albans, in Herefordshire, after he had caused the following haughty and im Vide Keith's Appendix. Maitland's Hist. &c. + Grose's Antiquities. Slezer's Theatrum Scotia. Chart. Sanctæ Crucis et Mailrose. perious inscription to be engraven upon it "Cum Læthia, oppidum apud Scotos nomen celebre, et Edinburgus primaria apud eos civitas incendio conflagrent, Richardus Leus, eques auratus, me flammis ereptum ad Angles perduxit. Hujus ego tanti beneficii memor, non nisi regum liberos lavare solitus, nunc meam operam etiam in fines Anglorum libenter condixi.Leus victor sic voluit. Vale. A.D. MDXLIII. et Auno Henrici Octavi, XXXVI. ||." TRANSLATED. "When Leith, a town of good account in Scotland, and Edinburgh, the principal city of that nation, were on fire, Sir Richard Lea, Knyght, saved me out of the flames, and brought me into England. In grati tude to him for his kindness, I, who heretofore served only at the baptism of the children of kings, do now most willingly offer the same service even to the meanest of the English nation. Lea, the conqueror, hath so commanded. Adieu. The year of man's salvation, one thousand five hundred and forty-three, in the thirty-sixth year of King Henry the Eighth." This relict of antiquity was retaken during the civil wars in the reign of Charles I. and converted into money, so that, in all probability, it was ut terly destroyed. James VII. having fitted up the conventual church in a very elegant manner, paved it with marble, and erected a magnificent throne, and twelve stalls for the knights companions of the most ancient order of St Andrew, with a large and beautiful organ. He also sent down chosen workmen from London, who were to have executed the figures of the twelve apostles and prophets, and to have placed them in appropriate niches all round the interior of the church. This design Cambden's Brittannia in Com. Heref design was strenuously opposed by a bigotted multitude, who alleged that the king intended to establish the papal rites and ceremonies, and that these statues were solemnly intended for objects of adoration. The consequence was, the whole of the fine workmanship was entirely defaced, and the artizans obliged to desist from their undertakings, while the king lamented to the bishop of Galloway, he was sorry to think the people of Scotland were so immersed in prejudice and ignorance, as to mistake those ornaments and incitements to devotion for objects of superstitious idolatry. At the Restoration, King Charles II. having resolved to rebuild the palace, and, at the same time, to give the church a thorough repair, ordained that it should be set apart as a chapel-royal in all time forthcoming, discharging it from being used as the parish-church of Canongate, which it had formerly been. It was accordingly fitted up in a very elegant manner; a throne was erected for the sovereign, as in James VII.'s time, and twelve stalls for the knights of the order of the Thistle, (an order which had been recently established, but which continues, with increasing lustre, to this time): but as this chapel had been formerly accommodated with an organ, and as mass had been celebrated in it during the reign of its former sovereigns, the populace, giving vent to their fury, tore up the stalls, set fire to the ornamental parts of the building, and left nothing but a mass of melancholy ruins +. They even broke into the vaults which had been used as the royal sepulchres, and in which lay many of the sovereign, princes, and grandees, of the realm, wrenched, with impious hands, the lids from off the leaden coffins, and left the bodies naked and exposed. The most curious and authentic document with regard to the ancien history of this Regalia Sepultura, 'is to be found in a MS. preserved in the Advocates' Library, and supposed to have been written by Sir Robert Sibbald, and is as follows: "Upon ye 24th of January 1683, by procurement of the Bischop of Dumblaya, I went into ane vault on ye south-east corner of ye Abby Church of HaleRude; and yr were present, ye Larıl Stranaver, and ye Earle of Forfare, Mr Robert Scott, Minister of Abby, ye Bischop of Dumblan, and several ithers. We viewed ye body oí King James fyft of Scotland. I lyeth within ane wodden coffin, and is covereit we ane leaden coffin: there seemed to be haire upon ye head stil Ye body was twae lengths of y staffe, with twae inches mair, that is, twae inches and maire above twe Scots elns, for I measured the staff with ane elnwand afterwards. The body was coloureit black wt ye balsam that preservet it, which was lykɛ melted pitch. The Earle of Forfare took the measure wyth hys staffe lykewise. Yr were plates of lead, in s veral long peeces, louse upon and about ye coffin, which carried ye fellowing inscription, as I tuke it from before ye Bischop and Noblemen in ye yle of said churche: "Lilastr Scotorum Rex Jacobus, ejus nom. V. Etatis suæ anno XXXI. Regni ver XXX. Mortem obiit in Palatio e Falkland XIV. Decembris, ARIE D—ni MDXLII. Cujus Corpus hi traditum est Sepulture." TRANSLATED. 66 "The illustrious James, fifth of his name, King of Scotland, died at his Palace of Falkland, in the thirty-first year of his age, and thirtieth of his TRANSLATED. "Magdalen, eldest born of Francis King of France, and Queen of James V. of Scotland, died A.D. 1537." "Yr was ane peece of a leaden croun, upon ye syde of whilk I saw two fluor-de-luces gilded; and upon ye north syde of ye coffin lay two children; none of the coffins a full eln long, and one of ym lying within ane wood chest, ye oyr only ye lead coffin. "Upon ye south syde, next ye Kyngis body, lay ane great coffin of lead with ye body in it. The muscles of the thigh seemed to be entire, and ye balsom stagnating in some quantity at ye foot of ye coffin; yr appeared no inscription upon ye coffin, but was maist likelye King Henry Darnley's. "And at ye east syde of ye vault, which was at ye feet of ye ither cof fins, lay a coffin wyth ye skull sawen in twa, and ane inscription in small gold letters gilded upon ane square of ye lead coffin, making yt to be ye body of Deame Jean Stewart, Countesse of Argyle, with ye year of her death, I sypose 1585, or so, I do not well remember ye yeare." Public Arch. W. 3. 15. "When last we visited this once stately edifice, (says Arnot,) we beheld in the middle of the chapel, the broken shafts of the columns which had been borne down by the weight of the roof, which fell in on the 2d December 1768, through the extreme avarice of a stupid architect. Upon looking into the vaults, the doors of which were open, we found, that what had escaped the fury of the mob at the revolution, became a prey to the rapacity of those who ransacked the church after it fell. In A.D. 1776, we had seen the body of James V. and some others in their leaden coffins. These coffins were now stolen. The head of Queen Magdalen, which was then entire and even beautiful, and the skull of Darnley, were also stolen; his thigh bones, however, still remain, and are proofs of the vastness of his stature *." Thus fell the beautiful monastery of Sanctæ Crucis, donominated HolyRood House, after it had braved the fury of its enemies for nearly seven centuries; and presents at present the appearance of one of the finest picturesque Gothic ruins in the kingdom. Nothing now remains of its internal grandeur, and the owl hoots in the abode of princes. Such are the perishing nature of all human establishments, and nothing may be said to be permanent on this side the tomb. The avenues to this important ruin being now shut up from the interior, the only entrance is by a private door leading from the interior of the Palace. In the middle of this passage is shewn a flat square stone, under which the unfortunate Rizzio is said to have been intombed, "that the Queen might regularly have a sight of the grave of her respected favourite, as she passed to her private devotions." This stone has certainly been intended as a sepulchral monument; a shield, with Saxon characters rudely sculptured around it, may be faintly traced; but whether relating to Rizzio is a matter of conjecture, as they are nearly illegible. Proceeding hence along the western end of the Abbey, the first monument we meet with is an altar tomb, ornamented in the greatest simplicity. This humble grave * Hist. of Edin, 255. stone stone serves to point out the spot where repose the ashes of the Right Honourable Lord and Lady Reay, and is thus inscribed Under this Stone Are laid the remains of And Elizabeth Fairlie his Wife. Of Christian faith and love, In one undeviating course, Towards another and a better world. George Lord Reay, died 27th Feb. 1768, Aged 31. Elizabeth Lady Reay, died 10th Nov. 1800, Aged 61. This Stone is inscribed January 1810, In token of grateful respect and affection, By their Daughters, The Hon. Mrs H. Fullarton. And the Hon. Georgina Mackay. A few yards farther, in the same direction, brings us to the vestry, situated in a detached corner of the Abbey. Here is placed the magnificent sepulchre of Robert Viscount Belhaven, Lord Carlyle, and Torthorwald, of which a representation is here exhibited, Lord Belhaven was page of honour to Henry Prince of Wales, and on the death of that lamented Prince, was appointed Gentleman of the Bedchamber to James V1., and afterwards to Charles I., and was also sworn off his most honourable Privy Council. A characteristic anecdote is related of his Lordship, by Bishop Burnet, on the authority of Sir Archibald Primrose. "When the Earl of Niths dale came down to Scotland with commission for the resumption of Church lands and tithes,, those who were principally concerned, agreed, that if nothing could make him de sist, they would fall upon him and his party and put them to death. Lord Belhaven, who was blind, desired to be placed by one of the party of whom he might make sure. Accordingly he was seated next to the Earl of Dumfries, whom he held fast with one hand all the time of the meeting When he was asked what he meant he replied, ever since the blindness came on him, he was so much in fes of falling, that he could not hel clinging fast to him who was nearest him. In the other hand he grasped a poniard, with which he intended to have stabbed the Earl, if any disorder had happened. His Lordship died at Edinburgh, Jan. 14, 1639, in the 66th year of his age, and was inter red in the Abbey Church of Holy Rood, where this splendid monument was erected to his memory, by Sin Archibald, and Sir Robert Douglas, nephews and heirs of the deceased.Upon an altar tomb is placed his Lordship's statue, of the most exquisite workmanship. The figure is in a re cumbent posture, the right arm resta upon a cushion, which seems to yield to the pressure; with the left hand he grasps the pommel of his sword, which hangs negligently down towards the feet. He is arrayed in his robes of state; and the flowing folds of the drapery has the elegance and ease of the finest Italian statuaries. His brows rows are encircled with a Baron's Coronet, and the whole figure cerainly vies with the most finished moument in Westminster Abbey. This tately edifice is formed of Parian marble brought from Italy, supported by five fluted columns of the Corinhian order. Over the top of an arched recess, is placed a shield, charged with the armorial bearings of is illustrious ancestors, viz. a heart crowned, imperially gules two stars of Five points, argent three piles issuing from the chief gules, within a double ressure flowered and counter-flowered. The shield surmounted by a helmet, sable crest, and a wild boar caught in the clifts of an oak, a chain and lock holding them together. Supported on the dexter side by a naked savage, wreathed and girdled with laurel, holding in his right hand a batton-proper. On the sinister side by a lion, langued and rampart-proper; motto "Lock sicker." The marshalling of these arms shews his Lord. ship's near relation to the potent family of the Douglas, Earls of Morton. Within the arched recess is placed the following classical inscription: D. O. M. Quod reliquum apud nos est, hic conditur Roberti Vicecomitis de Belhaven, Baronis de Spot & regi Carolo, a secretioribus consiliis, & inter familiares intimi quipe qui et prius Henrico Walliæ gratissim, ejusq. stabulis præfect, erat. Illo vero fatis cedente, fratri Carolo nunc rerum potito in quæsturam domus adscitus est, singulari favoris gradu accept, re et honoribus auctus. In juventute Nicolaa Moravia Abercarniæ comarcho natæ ad octodecem non amplius menses unicæ uxoris in puerperio simul cum fætu extinctæ lectissimo consortio fruebat, (ur) ingravescente senectute ab aulico strepitu (ut morum illic et malorum temporum pertæsus) sé sub trahens in patriam reversus Archibaldum et Robertu Duglasios Equites auratos primævi fratris filios, terris & bonis, præter quæ testamento legavit æqua lance divisis hæredes scripsit, qui memoriæ ejus gratitudinis suæ pignus. H. M. P. C. His Lordship married Nicolas, eldest daughter of Robert Moray of Abercairney, by Catherine, daughter to Sir William Murray of Tullibardine, and sister to Annabella, Countess of Mar *. This Lady died in A. D. 1612, after having been wedded eightteen months, of her first child, who was entombed with its parent in an early grave. She is buried in the Savoy Chapel, London, and is mentioned by Pennant in his Survey of that city. Observations on the Encroachments of the Sea upon the Land along the west of SCOTLAND. (By Robert Stevenson, Civil Engineer.) Read to the Wernerian Society. IN the course of making profession al inquiries regarding the impression which the tidal waters of the Frith of Forth are making upon some of the most valuable properties situatupon its banks, I was imperceptibly led to compare these with other ob ed servations that have occurred to me in a pretty extensive survey of the coast of Great Britain and Ireland. On this subject, involving not only an important question regarding the economical interests of the country at large, but also some points connected with the natural history of the globe, I shall lay before the Society what occurs to me, in hopes that it may at least have the effect of turning the attention of some more skilful observers to its further elucidation. I am, therefore, in this introductory paper, to endeavour to prove that the tidal waters of our seas are acting upon the coast of this kingdom, and wasting its shores, by a constant and almost invariable progress. This is, perhaps, more or less obvious to every one; but I shall here bring it more dis * Vide Note to Ladie Maria Stewart. |