310 PKOCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, JUNE 9, 1873. X. HISTORICAL DESCRIPTIO ALTAR-PIECEE TH F NO , PAINTEE TH N DI REIGN OF KING JAMES THE THIRD OF SCOTLAND, BELONGING TO HER MAJESTY, IN THE PALACE OF HOLYROOD. (PLATES X., XI.) A SUPPLEMENTAL NOTICE. By DAVID LAING, ESQ., FOREIGN SECRETARY S.A. SCOT. e Altar-PiecTh r Historicao e l Painting, which contains portraitf o s King Jame Thire th s Scotlanf ds Queeno hi d dan , Margare f Denmarko t , may be considered as by far the most interesting work of mediaeval art now existing in this country. No apology, therefore, need he offered for bringin subjece gth t again befor Societye eth . When the Painting itself was restored to Scotland in 1857,1 submitted e Societtth o a communicatioy n respectin , whicit g h appeare voln di . iii. of the Proceedings. A limited number of copies had previously been printe separata n di e form r privatfo , e distribution, wit e abovth h e title titl e: " Historical Descriptio Altar-Piecee th f o n , paintee Beigth n i d of King Jame Thire sth f Scotlanddo , belongin r MajestyHe e o th gt n i , Palace of Holyrood." Edinburgh, 1857, 8vo. pp. 20. principae Th l object aime t dwasa investigatiny b , e histore th gth f yo Painting, to record the grounds on which was based the Memorial pre- sente o t HEd R GHACIODS MAJESTY QDEEN VICTORIA, which happily proved successful, as Her Majesty directed its restoration, after a period of probably not less than three centuries. At different times it had been transferred, back and forwards, from Whitehall to St James' Palace, to Kensington, and to Hampton Court; and latterly to its most appropriate, and truste w ,s resting-place it , Palace th Holyroodf n i e,o . This communication was read to the Society on St Andrew's Day, 30th November 1857. When printed in the Proceedings, I added a Postscript n referenci a poin o t et which still remain ascertainede b e o t sth o Wh , whoy Artisb s paintine mth wa t s executegwa d1 In that postscript I was enabled to refer to a List of Paintings published by Mr Noel Sainsbury, in the appendix to his interesting volume of "Original Unpublished Papers Illustrative of the Life of Sir Peter Paul Eubens." Lond. 1859, 8vothin I s .. 355 listfind,p e t w a ,, — HISTORICAL DESCRIPTION OF AN ALTAR-HECE. 311 No. CXL.—" A Note of all such Pictures as your Highness [King James I. ]e present hatth t ha , done hy severall famous Masters' owne e Life.handse firsth Th t y "b is,— , " Inprimis, King Jame e Thirth s d of Scotland, wit Queenes hhi , doun JOAy eb N YANEK." Of these Paintings some had evidently formed part of the old Boyal collection, suggesting- that this one might have been brought from Edin- burgh when the city and public buildings were despoiled by the English forces unde e Ear th f rHertforo le yeath r n i d1544 d thuan ;s have prove e means preservationdth it f o s , whe whole n th O et Towse s nwa fire, and continued burning for three days. The mention of the artist's name, VANEK leso n ss i ,curious t i confirm s a , e opinioth s n previously expressed, of his having belonged to the school of the celebrated Flemish Painters, the Van Eycks, who flourished early in the fifteenth century. My chief object at present is to determine as far as possible the exact date of the Painting, having come to the conclusion that it must have been earlie twelvy rb fourteer eo n years tha date nth e 1484, usually assigned. This may seem a matter of small moment, yet it has a twofold import- ance, inasmuch as it may contribute towards ascertaining not only the name of the Flemish Artist who visited this country at that early period, t alsbu o foi determinin e publigth c Ceremonial whic Paintine hth s gwa intended to commemorate. For this purpose it is necessary to enter, however briefly, upon some historical o detailssupplt d yan , reference e o paperSociety't sth n i s s Proceedings more or less connected with the present investigation. I. THE NOBWEGIAN POSSESSION SCOTLANDN SI . piraticae Th l expedition maritimd san e poweNorwegiane th f ro s enabled them, abou e yeath t r 900 o obtain,tht , e entire possessio e Islandth f no s in the West of Scotland, as well as those of Orkney and Zetland. Harold, Kin f Norwaygo , erected Orkne d Zetlanyan d int earldon oa m to be held of the Norwegian crown, and in this way the superiority remained for some centuries vested in the Scandinavian Kings. The calamitous termination of Haco's great Expedition, in the destruction of his fleet in the year 1263 (not unlike the fate of the Spanish Armada in 1588), enabled the Scots, in the reign of Alexander the Third, by subse- 2 31 PROCEEDING THF SO E SOCIETY, JUNK 9, 1873. qiient treaty, upo f .400o n 0m paymen su .merk a f thf o so et Roman standard a yearl d an ,y quit-ren 0 merle10 f so t sterlin everr g fo regai o t , n Westere lordshie th Isll th e f al Manth eo n d f pIslando an , Scotlandf so , the Orkney and Zetland Islands excepted, At the' end of nearly two centuries the arrears of this quit-rent led to. long and protracted disputes in regard to the amount that was actually due by Scotland. In the reig Jamef no Seconde sth n 1457i , , fresh negotiations were commenced .connected wit e cessioe Hebrideshth th f no , which ultimatele th o t d yle reunio Orkneye th e f crowno th o Scotlandsf t no mattee Th disput.n r i e having been submitted to Charles VII., King of France, as arbiter, he suggested that a marriage between James, the eldest son of King James Seconde th Margaretd an , , daughte f Christiao r n III., Kin f Denmargo k and Norway (although both were then but children), would be the easiest mode of settlement. The unexpected death of the Scottish King, August 3, 1460, at the siege of Eoxburgh Castle, put a stop at that time prosecutioe toth sucf no hschemea . Before referrin o mattert g s connected with thise b Alliance y ma t i , useful to take a cursory glance at the actual state of the Koyal Family in Scotland during that century, II. THE KOYAL FAMILY OP STEWABT IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. f Kin o e thir JAME FIRSTth n gE ds so Eober TH Swa , e Thirth td dan Annabella Drummond, and born in the year 1394. As the sole survivor familys ohi f Kine th , g resolve seno dt s onl hi d y remainin Jamen gso o st JTorthere th n Franco t n bu coast-o e; f England, landin refreshmentsr gfo , the Prince was taken prisoner, and carried1 to Windsor, April 6, 1405. The illegalit e capturth s pleade f yo wa e vain di Henro t n Fourthe yth ; deatfathers e hi th an f n ho do , Apri , 14064 l youne th , g Prince succeeded e throntoth f Scotland estilo s lwa t detainebu ; captivityn di varioun i , s parts of England for the space of nineteen years. " Woe (it had been said) unto thee lan0 , dwhe! Kin y child,a th n s gi " Most lamentable e stat indeeth f Scotlano es e fifteentwa dth d sixteentn i dan h h Cen- turies, during long successive minorities (with only one exception, that of Jame Fourth)e sth , owine mis-governmenth o gt e kingdomth f o t , chiefly by ambitious or unprincipled governors. At length the King, when he HISTORICAL DESCRIPTIO ALTAR-PIECEN A 3 F 31 NO . was about thirty years of age, was ransomed from his protracted captivity for £40,000 sterling raise the'Estatey db kingdome e samth th f so t e A . tim e marrieh e d Jan r Joanno e a Beaufort, daughte f Johno r , Earf o l Somerset, Februar allowe, 1423-4s y2d wa d d ,an £10,00 marriagr he s 0a e King'e portionth n sO arriva. n Scotlani l d wit s younhhi g Queen they were crowned at Scone, May 21, 1424. The Kin assassinates gwa t Pertda Februarn hi y 1436-7 e QueeTh .n Dowager, about the year 1439, married for her second husband Sir James Stewart, commonly called The Black Knight of Lorn. She died in the Castle of Dunbar in 1446, and was interred in Perth beside her first husband, King James. After which Sir James was banished, by means of the Earl of Douglas, and died in exile the following year. By the queen he had issue three sons,—1st, John, who was made Earl of Athole in 1457, and survived till 1512 ; 2d, James Earl of Buchan in 1469,—he adhere Jameo dt Thire sth d agains Confederate th t e lordsd an , died before 1500; 3d, Andrew, bishop of Murray, rector of Monkland in 1546, Provost of Lincluden in 1477, and bishop of Murray 1482, till deats hi 1501survivinn e hi Th . g famil Jamef yo Firse sth t consistef do James, who succeeded, and six daughters. See an article, March 1858, entitled " Historical Notices of the Family of King James the First, chiefly from information communicated by John Eiddell, Esq., advocate, n Proceedingsi " , vol.