tfoJJt* &&.L fan <$*•' Ol W)'^ < SCALACRONICA: BY SIR THOMAS GRAY OF HETON, KNIGHT. A CHRONICLE OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND FROM A.D. MLXVI TO A.D. MCCCLXII. NOW FIRST PRINTED FROM THE UNIQUE MANUSCRIPT. WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES. EDINBURGH: PRINTED FOR THE MAITLAND CLUB. MDCCCXXXVI. f!>\K^> EDINBURGH PRINTING COMPANY. At a Meeting of the Council of the MAITLAND CLUB, held June 4, 1834, Resolved, That the Chronicle, of which a unique manuscript is preserved in the Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, known as the Scalacronica, be printed for the use of the Members; and that Joseph Stevenson, Esquire, be entrusted with obtaining a correct transcript of the Chronicle, superintend as Editor the printing of it, and supply Preface, Notes, and Indices, in terms of his offer, engrossed in the Minutes of the Club. John Smith, Ygst., Secretary. THE MAITLAND CLUB. DECEMBER M.DCCC.XXXV. THE EARL OF GLASGOW, PRESIDENT. HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF SUSSEX. ROBERT ADAM, ESQ. JOHN BAIN, ESQ. ROBERT BELL, ESQ. 5 SIR DAVID HUNTER BLAIR, BART. BERIAH BOTFIELD, ESQ. SIR THOMAS MACDOUGALL BRISBANE, K.C.B. WALTER BUCHANAN, ESQ. THE MARQUIS OF BUTE. 10 ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, ESQ. ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL, ESQ. LORD JOHN CAMPBELL. JOHN DONALD CARRICK, ESQ. LORD COCKBURN. 15 JAMES DENNISTOUN, ESQ. JAMES DOBIE, ESQ. RICHARD DUNCAN, ESQ. [Treasurer.] WILLIAM JAMES DUNCAN, ESQ. JAMES DUNLOP, ESQ. 20 JOHN DUNLOP, ESQ. JAMES EWING, ESQ. KIRKMAN FINLAY, ESQ. THE REV. WILLIAM FLEMING, D.D. WILLIAM MALCOLM FLEMING, ESQ. 25 JOHN FULLERTON, ESQ. JOHN BLACK GRACIE, ESQ. RIGHT HONOURABLE THOMAS GRENVILLE. JAMES HILL, ESQ. LAURENCE HILL, ESQ. 30 GEORGE HOUSTON, ESQ. JAMES IVORY, ESQ. JOHN KERR, ESQ. ROBERT ALEXANDER KIDSTON, ESQ. GEORGE RITCHIE KINLOCH, ESQ. 35 JOHN GIBSON LOCKHART, ESQ. ALEXANDER MACDONALD, ESQ. WILLIAM MACDOWALL, ESQ. [Vice President.] THE VERY REV. PRINCIPAL MACFARLAN, D.D. ANDREW MACGEORGE, ESQ. 40 ALEXANDER MACGRIGOR, ESQ. DONALD MACINTYRE, ESQ. JOHN WHITEFOORD MACKENZIE, ESQ. GEORGE MACINTOSH, ESQ. ALEXANDER MACNEILL, ESQ. 45 JAMES MAIDMENT, ESQ. THOMAS MAITLAND, ESQ. WILLIAM MEIKLEHAM, ESQ. WILLIAM HENRY MILLER, ESQ. WILLIAM MURE, ESQ. 50 ALEXANDER OSWALD, ESQ. JOHN MACMICKEN PAGAN, ESQ. WILLIAM PATRICK, ESQ. EDWARD PIPER, ESQ. ROBERT PITCAIRN, ESQ. 55 JAMES CORBET PORTERFIELD, ESQ. HAMILTON PYPER, ESQ. PHILIP ANSTRUTHER RAMSAY, ESQ. JOHN RICHARDSON, ESQ. WILLIAM ROBERTSON, ESQ. 60 ANDREW RUTHERFURD, ESQ. JAMES SMITH, ESQ. JOHN SMITH, ESQ. JOHN SMITH, YGST. ESQ. [Secretary.] WILLIAM SMITH, ESQ. 65 MOSES STEVEN, ESQ. DUNCAN STEWART, ESQ. SIR MICHAEL SHAW STEWART, BART. SYLVESTER DOUGLAS STIRLING, ESQ. JOHN STRANG, ESQ. 70 THOMAS THOMSON, ESQ. WILLIAM B. D. D. TURNBULL, ESQ. PATRICK FRASER TYTLER, ESQ. ADAM URQUHART, ESQ. SIR PATRICK WALKER, KNT. 75 WILSON DOBIE WILSON, ESQ. INTRODUCTION. Those who have attempted to investigate the early history of Scotland, at almost any period from the time of Malcolm the Third to the Union, must soon have experienced the melan- choly truth, that the documents upon which such investigations ought to be founded are neither numerous nor satisfactory. The Chronicles of Melrose and Holyrood, the works of Fordnn, Wyntown, Barbour, and Bower, are indeed the only credible histories which can be named as the productions of Scottishmen; and there is no reason to believe that any unknown writings of a similar nature lie hid in the recesses of manuscript libraries. The English Chronicles, upon the whole, present a body of mat- ter from which we can collect more important materials for the general history of Scotland, and are entitled to much credit, if used with moderate caution in those parts where their testimony is likely to be prejudiced. The Saxon Chronicle, Simeon of Dur- ham, the work ascribed to Benedictus Abbas, Newbury, Hove- den, Matthew Paris, Hemingford, Trivet, Trokelow, Blaneford, and Walsingham, present information which would in vain be sought in Scottish writers. Nor are the English libraries ex- (a) ii INTRODUCTION. hausted, since they yet contain the productions of authors who had favourable opportunities of knowing the transactions in which the two countries were engaged, and whose evidence, even though sometimes tinged with prejudice and party-spirit, is worthy of being submitted to the press, and of taking a place and filling a chasm in the materials for Scottish history. Among these hitherto unpublished chronicles are two, which, in point of extent, value, and novelty, demand especial notice. The first of these, the Chronicle of Lanercost, is the produc- tion of a series of individuals, who, occupying a locality which, from its neighbourhood to Scotland, enabled them to acquire copious and correct information relative to the events of that kingdom, were in the habit of chronicling these events as they occurred. The work thus produced depicts graphically and cor- rectly our history from the accession of king John to the battle of Durham. The narrators, in their detail, intermix observations, which, being either of a personal nature or the representatives of temporary feelings, stamp an individuality and characteristic peculiarity upon the whole. The unique copy which has reached us is deposited in the Cottonian Collection; and it is singular that no one of the Editors of the early English historians which appeared in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, should have given to the world a chronicle so curious, so superior to many which they have printed, so worthy ofpreservation as exist- ing in only one manuscript, and so easy of access. The other chronicle to which the enquirer into Scottish history would wish to refer is the Scalacronica, a work hitherto known only, and imperfectly, through the abstract given by Leland. It is also singular, that, possessing so much to recommend it, and known, valued, and quoted as it has been even through that imperfect medium, this chronicle should have escaped publica- INTRODUCTION. iii 3 tion until the present period. This is partly to be attributed to the peculiar laws to which the Corpus Christi library at Cam- bridge, where the unique manuscript is deposited, is subjected by the will of the venerable Archbishop Parker, to whom the history as well as the church of England is under such incalcu- lable obligations. When the Editor visited Cambridge in the spring of 1834, for the purpose of examining certain manuscripts tending to illustrate the object which he then had in view, he experienced numerous proofs of the willingness to promote and assist a spirit of enquiry, for which that University is so justly distinguished; and he had no difficulty in obtaining not only ac- cess to the manuscript, but also permission to transcribe as much as was considered necessary for his purpose. The extracts then made were enough to confirm his previous impressions of the value of the whole work; and the patronage of the Maitland Club has now rendered accessible to English and Scottish historians, and has rescued from the danger of being lost, all that is valuable in the Scalacronica. 11 In the reign of Edward the Third lived a Northumbrian warrior, whose military talents were chiefly employed against his neighbours the Scotch. It was his fate to be captured by them, and to be conveyed a prisoner to Edinburgh. To relieve the tedium which confinement naturally produced in an active mind, a So far as the Editor is aware, no attempt had been made by any one to bring this work before the public, until the time when Lord Hailes, to whom the early history of Scotland is so infinitely indebted, seems to have entertained such a project. The correspondence upon the subject may be seen in the Proofs, No. xxviii. b Such is the name which the author himself bestows upon his work, a name apparently originating in the mystic ladder up which he was conducted by his supernatural guide, but wherein we cannot fail to observe an allusion to the cognizance of the Grey family—the scaling ladder. It may also be added, that the idea of the machinery of the prologue is probably borrowed from the Historia Aurea, one of the chapters of which contains a copious history of " Sibilla." iv INTRODUCTION. he had recourse to the exercise of accomplishments, which, being of a literary nature, were not commonly possessed by the soldiers of that age. In the year 1355 he commenced the com- pilation of the Scalacronica, which appears to be intended for a general history, extending from the Creation to his own times. In the formation of this work he availed himself not only of cer- tain written authorities which he specifies, but also introduces into his narrative an account of the exploits in which his father, another "preux chevalier," was concerned, and of those in which he himself had borne a part. These, together with the general information which he has recorded concerning the civil and military transactions of the reigns of Edward the Second and Third, obtained, no doubt, either by his own personal observa- tion, or from the testimony of eye-witnesses, render this history exceedingly valuable, stamp upon it an individuality of character, and draw a wide line of distinction between it, the production of an observant and educated secular, and the other historical memorials of the same age, written by men who, in the language of that period, were styled " Pveligious." From these facts a general idea of the peculiar character of the Scalacronica, and of its author, Thomas Gray, may be obtained. It is important that we should endeavour to ascertain the materials from which this chronicle is composed, for, unless this end be attained, it is impossible to form a critical estimate of its value as historical authority. Upon this point the author's prologue has furnished us with much information ; and we shall proceed to trace his work through the different writers to whom he there alludes, until we arrive at that period when the Scala- cronica becomes the production of an independent and original historian.