The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border

NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED.

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This beautiful ballad is published from a copy in Glenriddel’s MSS., with some slight variations from tradition.  It alludes to one of the most remarkable feuds upon the west marches.

A.D. 1585, John, Lord Maxwell, or, as he styled himself, Earl of Morton, having quarrelled with the Earl of Arran, reigning favourite of James VI., and fallen, of course, under the displeasure of the court, was denounced rebel.  A commission was also given to the laird of Johnstone, then warden of the west-marches, to pursue and apprehend the ancient rival and enemy of his house.  Two bands of mercenaries, commanded by Captains Cranstoun and Lammie, who were sent from Edinburgh to support Johnstone, were attacked and cut to pieces at Crawford-muir by Robert Maxwell, natural brother to the chieftain;[195] who, following up his advantage, burned Johnstone’s castle of Lochwood, observing, with savage glee, that he would give Lady Johnstone light enough by which to “set her hood.”  In a subsequent conflict, Johnstone himself was defeated, and made prisoner, and is said to have died of grief at the disgrace which he sustained.—­See Spottiswoode and Johnstone’s Histories, and Moyse’s Memoirs, ad annum 1585.

By one of the revolutions, common in those days, Maxwell was soon after restored to the king’s favour, in his turn, and obtained the wardenry of the west marches.  A bond of alliance was subscribed by him, and by Sir James Johnstone, and for some time the two clans lived in harmony.  In the year 1593, however, the hereditary feud was revived, on the following occasion:  A band of marauders, of the clan Johnstone, drove a prey of cattle from the lands belonging to the lairds of Crichton, Sanquhar, and Drumlanrig; and defeated, with slaughter, the pursuers, who attempted to rescue their property.—­[See the following Ballad and Introduction.] The injured parties, being apprehensive that Maxwell would not cordially embrace their cause, on account of his late reconciliation with the Johnstones, endeavoured to overcome his reluctance, by ottering to enter into bonds of manrent, and so to become his followers and liegemen; he, on the other hand, granting to them a bond of maintenance, or protection, by which he bound himself, in usual form, to maintain their quarrel against all mortals, saving his loyalty.  Thus, the most powerful and respectable families in Dumfries-shire became, for a time, the vassals of Lord Maxwell.  This secret alliance was discovered to Sir James Johnstone by the laird of Cummertrees, one of his own clan, though a retainer to Maxwell.  Cummertrees even contrived to possess himself of the bonds of manrent, which he delivered to his chief.  The petty warfare betwixt the rival barons was instantly renewed.  Buccleuch, a near relation of Johnstone, came to his assistance with his clan, “the most renowned freebooters (says a historian), the fiercest and bravest warriors, among the border tribes”[196] With Buccleuch also came the Elliots, Armstrongs, and Graemes.  Thus reinforced, Johnstone surprised and cut to pieces a party of the Maxwells, stationed at Lochmaben.  On the other hand, Lord Maxwell, armed with the royal authority, and numbering among his followers all the barons of Nithesdale, displayed his banner as the king’s lieutenant, and invaded Annandale, at the head of 2000 men.  In those days, however, the royal auspices to have carried as little good fortune as effective strength with them.  A desperate conflict, still renowned in tradition, took place at the Dryffe sands, not far from Lockerby, in which Johnstone, although inferior in numbers, partly by his own conduct, partly by the valour of his allies, gained a decisive victory.  Lord Maxwell, a tall man, and heavily armed, was struck from his horse in the flight, and cruelly slain, after the hand, which he stretched out for quarter, had been severed from his body.  Many of his followers were slain in the battle, and many cruelly wounded; especially by slashes in the face, which wound was thence termed a “Lockerby lick.”  The barons of Lag, Closeburn, and Drumlanrig, escaped by the fleetness of their horses; a circumstance alluded to in the following ballad.

[Footnote 195:  It is devoutly to be wished, that this Lammie (who was killed in the skirmish) may have been the same miscreant, who, in the day of Queen Mary’s distress, “hes ensigne being of quhyt taffitae, had painted one it ye creuell murther of King Henry, and layed down before her majestie, at quhat time she presented herself as prisoner to ye lordis.”—­Birrel’s Diary, June 15, 1567.  It would be some satisfaction to know, that the grey hairs of this worthy personage did not go down to the grave in peace.]

[Footnote 196:  Inter accolas latrociniis famosos Scotos Buccleuchi clientes—­fortissimos tributium et ferocissimos,—­JOHNSTONI Historia, ed.  Amstael, p. 182.]

This fatal battle was followed by a long feud, attended with all the circumstances of horror, proper to a barbarous age.  Johnstone, in his diffuse manner, describes it thus:  “Ab eo die ultro citroque in Annandia et Nithia magnis utriusque regionis jacturis certatum.  Caedes, incendia, rapinae, et nefanda facinora; liberi in maternis gremiis trucidati; mariti in conspectu conjugum suarum, incensae villae lamentabiles ubique querimoniae et horribiles armorum fremitus.”  JOHNSTONI Historia, Ed. Amstael. p. 182.

John, Lord Maxwell, with whose Goodnight the reader is here presented, was son to him who fell at the battle of Dryffe Sands, and is said to have early vowed the deepest revenge for his father’s death.  Such, indeed, was the fiery and untameable spirit of the man, that neither the threats nor entreaties of the king himself could make him lay aside his vindictive purpose; although Johnstone, the object of his resentment, had not only reconciled himself to the court, but even obtained the wardenry of the middle-marches, in room of Sir John Carmichael, murdered by the Armstrongs.  Lord Maxwell was therefore prohibited to approach the border counties; and having, in contempt of that mandate, excited new disturbances, he was confined in the castle of Edinburgh.  From this fortress, however, he contrived to make his escape; and, having repaired to Dumfries-shire, he sought an amicable interview with Johnstone, under pretence of a wish to accommodate their differences.  Sir Robert Maxwell, of Orchardstane (mentioned in the Ballad, verse 1.), who was married to a sister of Sir James Johnstone, persuaded his brother-in-law to accede to Maxwell’s proposal.  The two chieftains met, each with a single attendant, at a place called Achmanhill, 6th April, 1608.  A quarrel arising betwixt the two gentlemen who attended them (Charles Maxwell, brother to the laird of Kirkhouse, and Johnstone of Lockerby), and a pistol being discharged, Sir James turned his horse to separate the combatants; at which instant Lord Maxwell shot him through the back with a brace of bullets, of which wound he died on the spot, after having for some time gallantly defended himself against Maxwell, who endeavoured to strike him with his sword.  “A fact,” saith Spottiswoode, “detested by all honest men, and the gentleman’s misfortune severely lamented, for he was a man full of wisdom and courage.”—­SPOTTISWOODE, Edition 1677, pages 467, 504.  JOHNSTONI Historia, Ed. Amstael. pp. 254, 283, 449.

Lord Maxwell, the murderer, made his escape to France; but, having ventured to return to Scotland, he was apprehended lurking in the wilds of Caithness, and brought to trial at Edinburgh.  The royal authority was now much strengthened by the union of the crowns, and James employed it in staunching the feuds of the nobility, with a firmness which was no attribute of his general character.  But, in the best actions of that monarch, there seems to have been an unfortunate tincture of that meanness, so visible on the present occasion.  Lord Maxwell was indicted for the murder of Johnstone; but this was combined with a charge of fire-raising, which, according to the ancient Scottish law, if perpetrated by a landed man, constituted a species of treason, and inferred forfeiture.  Thus, the noble purpose of public justice was sullied, by being united with that of enriching some needy favourite.  John, Lord Maxwell, was condemned, and beheaded, 21st May, 1613.  Sir Gideon Murray, treasurer-depute, had a great share of his forfeiture; but the attainder was afterwards reversed, and the honours and estate were conferred upon the brother of the deceased.—­LAING’S History of Scotland, Vol.  I. p. 62.—­JOHNSTONI Historia, p. 493.

The lady, mentioned in the ballad, was sister to the Marquis of Hamilton, and, according to Johnstone the historian, had little reason to regret being separated from her husband, whose harsh treatment finally occasioned her death.  But Johnstone appears not to be altogether untinctured with the prejudices of his clan, and is probably, in this instance, guilty of exaggeration; as the active share, taken by the Marquis of Hamilton in favour of Maxwell, is a circumstance inconsistent with such a report.

Thus was finally ended, by a salutary example of severity, the “foul debate” betwixt the Maxwells and Johnstones, in the course of which each family lost two chieftains; one dying of a broken heart, one in the field of battle, one by assassination, and one by the sword of the executioner.

It seems reasonable to believe, that the following ballad must have been written before the death of Lord Maxwell, in 1613; otherwise there would have been some allusion to that event.  It must therefore have been composed betwixt 1608 and that period.