M E M O I R

 

RESPECTING THE FAMILY OF

 

K I R K P A T R I C K   O F   C L O S E B U R N,

 

IN NITHSDALE,

 

 

WITH  NOTICES  OF  SOME  COLLATERALS.

 

 

 

 

Ó MDCCCLVIII

SCOTLAND

 

 

 

 


Transcribed from a copy of the book complete with spellings and terms of the times by John P. Kirkpatrick for genealogical purposes. 

Ó 2000 John P. Kirkpatrick

John P. Kirkpatrick

RR 1 Box 253-A

Ellsinore, MO 63937

jpkirkpatrick@oocities.com

http://www.oocities.org/Heartland/Ranch/1860

Copy provided by Hope & Michael Kirkpatrick

Madison, AL

 

 

It appears certain that the family of Kirkpatrick of Closeburn (in ancient times Kil-Osbern) possessed estates in Nithsdale and Annandale as early as the 8th century, although various circumstances have occurred to destroy any evidence of title, earlier than the time of Ivone de Kirkpatrick, in the reign of David the First, at the commencement of the 12th century.

 

Living on the Border they were engaged in continual feuds and fights.  In 1570 the Earl of Sussex entered Nithsdale with an army of 4000 men, and took and sacked Closeburn.  In 1646 Douglas and others plundered Closeburn, and took away “what was anyway transportable.”  And in 1748 Closeburn was burnt to the ground, when “all the family portraits and furniture, with the greatest part of the papers and documents were consumed.”  See Playfairs Scottish Baronetage.  There are, however, sufficient documents, private and public, to prove the Pedigree, as set forth in the annexed genealogical table.

 

1.  Ivone De Kirkpatrick of Kilosbern (Cella Osberni), is the first whose name can be traced in any known document.  In the reign of David the First, King of Scotland, who came to the throne A.D. 1124, his name occurs in a Charter of Robert Brus the elder and Eufemia his wife, granting the fishing of Torduff to the Monks of Abbeyholm; and in another Charter, in which Brus grants to Ivone de Kirkpatrick, the fishing of Blawode and Eister.  The family name is derived from their Estate of Kirkpatrick (Cella Patricii) in the north-western Annandale.  Hence in old documents the name is sometimes spelt Kilpatrick.

 

The Robert Brus was the first Lord of Annandale.  He was brought up at the English Court with David, afterwards King David I., and ever after continued to be his intimate friend.  He died in 1141.  In 1290 his descendant Robert Brus, upon the death of Margaret, “The Maiden of Norway,” who succeeded her Grandfather, Alexander III., contested the Crown with Baliol.  The question depended on a point not then so clearly settled as at the present.  From Kenneth Mac Alpine, King of the Scots (843), founder of the Clan Alpine, the most ancient of the Clans, the Crown decended lineally to Malcolm III, surnamed Canmore, who married Margaret, grand-daughter of Edmund Ironside, King of England.  Their daughter Matilda married Henry I. of England.  Their youngest son, David I., succeeded upon the death of his elder brothers in 1124.  He married Maud daughter of Waltheof Earl of Northumberland, and of Juditha niece of William the Conqueror.  Henry, son of David, died in his father’s lifetime, his eldest son, Malcolm IV. surnamed The Maiden, succeeded his grandfather, and upon his death, without issue, Henry’s second son, William the Lion succeeded.  By the death of Margaret, the Maiden of Norway, in her passage to Scotland to take possession of her throne, 1290, the line of William the Lion became extinct, and the right devolved to the descendants of Henry’s third son, David Earl of Huntingdon, who left three daughters:  1st. Margaret, grandmother of John Baliol, 2nd. Isabella, mother of Robert Brus, and 3rd. Ada, who married Lord Hastings.  Baliol claimed as grandson of the eldest daughter.  Brus claimed as son of the second eldest daughter, and therefore one degree nearer to the last occupant.  Hastings claimed one third in right of his wife.  There were several other claimants, and among them John Comyn Lord of Badenoch; but their claims created little difficulty.  The dispute was referred to Edward I. of England, who properly decided in favor of Baliol, 10 Nov. 1292.

 

Brus married Isabel de Clare, daughter of the Earl of Gloucester.  Their son Robert accompanied Edward I. while Prince to Palestine 1270, where by his courage and conduct he acquired great honour; Upon his return home, he married Margaret Countess of Carrick, in whose, right he became Earl of Carrick.  By her he had twelve children, whom the eldest, Robert, born in 1274, was on 27th March, 1306, crowned King of Scotland.

 

The Annan and Nith being neighboring valleys, meeting at their southern openings, with Dumfries as their common capital, the families of Bruce and Kirkpatrick always lived upon the most intimate terms, and their friendship was cemented by intermarriages.

 

2.  William son of Ivone, was slain in a faction fight.  He assisted Gilbert son of Fergus in his quarrel with Rolland son of Uchtred Lord of Galloway, about the year 1187.    After Gilbert’s death, Rolland declaring himself Lord of Galloway, was opposed by Kirkpatrick, who heading the faction of his cousin Duncan, was killed in the fight.  Henry the Second of England, led an army to Carlisle, and with the aid of the King of Scots, composed the feuds in Galloway, obliging Rolland to bestow upon Duncan that part called Carrick.

 

3.  Ivone, son of William, married Eufemia daughter of Robert Brus, Lord of Annandale and Cleveland (Family tree of the Bruces of Clackmannan, in the possession of the Earl of Elgin).  Among the writings carried away from Edinburgh Castle by Edward the First, A.D. 1296, was Una Litera patens, &c. ad firmam Domino Galtero Mowbray per Eufemiam Kirkpatrick.  The Mowbrays originally possessed the estate of Kirkmichael in Nithsdale, which in 1484 was granted by the King to Alexander Kirkpatrick, as hereafter stated.  Ivone made a settlement of the lands of Kilosbern, by surrender to King Alexander the Second, and Grant of Confirmation or Settlement Charter, dated at Edinburgh, August 15, 1232.  Shortly before this he made large additions to the old Castle of Closeburn; but it seems probable that the Keep or Tower which still exists, with walls twelve feet thick was built three or four centuries earlier.  In the 17th century Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick pulled down everything except the Keep, and used the materials in rebuilding the mansion.

 

In the reign of Alexander the Second, Humphrey Kirkpatrick, second son of William obtained the lands of Colquhoun, from Maldwin Earl of Lenox, and from these lands his son Ingram took the surname of Colquhoun.  Ingram’s son Robert, was father of another Robert, who had three sons, the eldest of whom, Humphrey, married the heiress of Luss in 1394.  The Colquhouns of Luss still claim to belong to the family of Kirkpatrick.

 

4.  Adam succeeded his father Ivone.  In Chalmers’ Caledonia, p. 79, it is stated that this Adam de Kirkpatrick possessed the Manor of Kirkpatrick in North-western Annandale, and that in 1264 he had a lawsuit with the Monks of Kelso about the advowson of the Church of Kilosbern, which was decided against him by the Abbot of Jedburgh.

 

5.  Stephen, son of Adam, in the Chartulary of Kelso is styled, stephanus dominus villae de Kilosbern, filius et haeres domini Adae de Kirkpatrick.  He entered into an agreement with the Abbot, concerning the Convent’s right to the Church of Kilosbern, die Mercurii proxima post festam purificantionis, beatae Mariae virginis 1278.

 

6.  Roger, the eldest son of Stephen, succeeded as Lord of Closeburn, while Duncan, the second son, by his marriage with Isabel daughter and heiress of Sir David Torthorwald of Torthorwald, obtained that Barony.

 

At this time Scotland was involved in constant trouble, from the disputes respecting the Crown; and Sir Roger Kirkpatrick living on the border, and related to Bruce and Wallace, necessarily took an active interest in the struggle.  Although Edward had decided in favour of Baliol, he was greatly disappointed that the death of the Maiden of Norway had defeated his plan of uniting the Crowns of England and Scotland, by her marriage with his son, and he never abandoned the hope of effecting the union by some other means.  The Kings of England had a long standing but fiercely contested claim of feudal superiority over Scotland, and this claim Edward enforced so offensively against Baliol, that though timid and weak yet not mean-spirited, he was at length driven to resent such treatment.  War ensued, 1295.  The Scots were everywhere defeated, and Baliol, after performing the most humiliating acts of feudal penance, was compelled to make a surrender of his kingdom, 2nd July, 1296, just four years after his accession; upon which he and his son Edward were taken to the Tower of London, where three years afterwards he made a formal abdication of all his rights, and retired to Normandy, where he died 1314, just after the battle of Bannockburn.  But while Baliol remained a prisoner, many of the principal families of Scotland, resenting the attempt of Edward to subjugate their country, aided by the general popular feeling, and taking Sir William Wallace as their leader, carried on a sort of Guerilla warfare, till the English, defeated at Stirling, 11th September, 1297, were driven out of the country; whereupon Wallace was elected Warden of Scotland, on behalf of Baliol.  Edward, then abroad, returned, and leading a powerful army into Scotland, defeated the Scots at Falkirk, 22nd July, 1298, with immense slaughter.  Upon this Wallace resigned the Wardenship, and Robert Bruce the son, (his father having died in 1295), his rival John Comyn and Lamberton Bishop of St. Andrews, were appointed joint wardens in the name of Baliol.  Wallace, however, continued to take an active part, till he was betrayed into the hands of the English, and taken to London, where he was executed with the then accustomed barbarities, 23rd August 1305.

 

Robert Bruce, the grandson, being in the power of Edward, had taken no active part, though he secretly encouraged the opposition; but Baliol’s abdication and the death of his grandfather in 1295, and now of his father, having cleared his path, he had a conference with the Red Comyn, at which, after representing the miserable effects of civil discord, he proposed that they should henceforth act as friends.  Support, said he, my title to the crown, and I will give you all my lands; or give me all your lands and I will support your claim.  Comyn, knowing the weakness of his own claim, accepted the former alternative, and an agreement was drawn up accordingly, sealed and confirmed by mutual oaths of fidelity and secrecy.  Comyn, however, perhaps frightened at the step he had taken, revealed the matter to Edward, who having unguardedly expressed himself determined on revenge, the Earl of Gloucester, Bruce’s cousin, who fell eight years afterwards at the battle of Bannockburn the last male of his family, anxious to save Bruce, but afraid to compromise himself, sent a piece of money and a pair of golden spurs.  Bruce understanding the hint, instantly started for Scotland, reaching Lochmaben Castle the fifth day.  Here he met his brother, Edward Bruce, and his kinsman Sir Roger Kirkpatrick, whom Buchanan calls ‘vetus amicus’ of King Robert Bruce, and whom Abercromby calls the constant friend of Sir William Wallace.  They were joined by James Lindsay, Robert Fleming, ancestor to the Earls of Wigton, and Sir Thomas Charteris, commonly called Thomas of Longueville.  Accompanied by these Barons, he immediately repaired to Dumfries, where Comyn then was, and sought a private interview.  Comyn perhaps suspecting that his treachery had been discovered, appointed the Grey Friars Church in the Convent of the Minorities.  Here Bruce passionately upbraided him for his treachery, a violent altercation ensued, Comyn gave him the lie, whereupon he instantly drew his dagger and stabbed him.  Hastening from the Church, he met his friends, who seeing him agitated and pale eagerly inquired the cause.  “I doubt,” said he, “I have slain the Comyn.”  “Doubt’st thou,” said Kirkpatrick, “I mak sicker,” and rushed into the Church.  In the meantime the followers of Comyn having taken alarm, rallied round their fallen chief, but Kirkpatrick burst through them, struck down and slew Sir Robert Comyn the uncle, and dispatched the Red Comyn with his dagger, 10 February, 1306.  Hence the crest and motto of the family:

 


 


I  MAK  SICKAR

 

‘conferred,’ says Playfair, ‘by King Robert himself, and adopted from an action which, however sanguinary and shocking it may now appear, was highly admired and applauded in those ferocious times.”  It is to this Sir Walter Scott alludes in the Lord of the Isles, where he makes the minstrel speak of “Kirkpatrick’s bloody dirk making sure of murder’s work.”  From this period the old crest, A Thistle, with motto, “Tich and I perce,” has fallen nearly into disuse.  In ‘The Scottish Chiefs’ Kirkpatrick is described as bearing ‘the device of the hardy King Archaius but with a fiercer motto, Touch and I pierce,’ and in a not it is added that Archaius King of Scotland having won the love and alliance of Charlemagne and many other Christian Kings, found himself to be so mighty that he took for his device the Thistle and Rew, and for his motto, ‘For my defence,’ the Rew denoting wisdom in peace, and the Thistle power in war.

 

The adopted motto appears on old seals and documents in various forms.  Sometimes, “I’ll mak sicker,” or “sicker,” which were probably the words originally uttered.  This appears to have been considered inconsistent with the crest, the drops of blood intimating a deed done, and we find it written, ‘I hae made sicker,’ or ‘sickar.’  This however, is evidently a bad form of motto, which ought to be a rallying cry, or the expression of a family habit.  For this purpose ‘I mak sicker,’ or , as it has for centuries been used by the head of the family, ‘I make sure,’ is decidedly the proper form.  When a Kirkpatrick finds himself in circumstances of doubt or difficulty, his motto is his trumpet call to duty.  “I make sure” is the form registered at the Hearlds’ office upon the grant of the patent of baronetcy in 1685.  Some branches of the family, however, settled in England, have reverted to “I mak sicker” as a reminiscence of their Scottish descent.

 

This murderous affray in the church soon created a general alarm.  The English judges, then holding court in the Castle Hill, hastily barricaded the doors, and prepared for defence.  But Bruce, assembling his followers, and threatening to force an entrance by fire, compelled those within to surrender.

 

Bruce and his friends soon after proceeded to Scone, the ancient seat of Scottish inauguration, and was there crowned, 27th March, 1306.  But he was not permitted to retain his throne undisturbed.  He had enjoyed royalty but a short time, when he was defeated by an army sent against him by Edward I., after which he was obliged to live an obscure condition for a considerable time, during which his enemies tried every method either to take him prisoner or to destroy him, and he was compelled to take refuge in various places, among others at Closeburn, where he was from time to time effectually concealed by Sir Roger Kirkpatrick.  The place of refuge was a steep hill, called the Dune of Tynron, upon the top of which there still remain traces of a small fort or habitation; and in former times it was surrounded on all sides by very thick woods.  This h8ill is still shewn as the place of refuge of King Robert Bruce.  Edward carried on the contest with various success till the famous battle of Bannockburn, 24th June, 1314, when Bruce obtained a complete victory, by which his sovereignty was established.

 

Throughout all these struggles Sir Roger Kirkpatrick continued to take an active part, filled with those patriotic inspirations so nobly embodied by Burns, in “Bruce’s address to his army at Bannockburn.”

 

 

Scots wha hae wi’ Wallace bled,             Wha for Scotland’s King and Law,

Scots wham Bruce has often led,           Freedom’s sword will strongly draw,

Welcome to your gory bed,                      Freeman stand or Freeman fa’,

            Or to victorie.                                      Let him follow me.

 

Now’s the day and now’s the hour          By oppression’s woes and pains,

See the front o’ battle lour,                    By your sons in service chains,

See approach proud Edward’s power,     We will drain our dearest veins,

            Chains and slaverie.                          But they shall be free.

 

Wha will be a traitor-knave,                  Lay the proud usurpers low,

Wha can fill a coward’s grave,                Tyrants fall in every foe,

Wha sae base as be a slave?                  Liberty’s in every blow,

            Let him turn and flee.                                    Let us do or die.

 

 

In the preface to the Life of Wallace, it appears that Sir Roger Kirkpatrick was one of the assembly of Barons in the Forest Kirk, who elected Wallace, Warden of Scotland.  He also took part in the subsequent election of Bruce and his Co-wardens, and is mentioned by blind Henry as a partisan of Wallace, when he relieved Sir William Douglas, besieged in Sanquhar Castle by the English.

 

After the battle of Bannockburn, Sir Roger Kirkpatrick was sent with Sir Neil Campbell, ancestor of the Duke of Argyll and others, Commissioners to treat  with King Edward II. In person, then at Durham.  (Rymer, Tom 3, p. 495.)

 

Several interruptions of the peace, however, took place till 1328, when a permanent treaty was concluded, the principal articles of which were the recognition of Bruce’s title, and of the sovereignty of the kingdom, cemented by the marriage of his son and heir David to Johanna sister of the King of England.  In this negotiation Sir Roger Kirkpatrick’s son was also employed, with Sir Roger de Soulis and Sir Robert de Keith.

 

Had the royal family of Bruce been perpetuated in the male line, the Kirkpatrick’s  of Closeburn would undoubtedly have enjoyed a liberal share of the honours and emoluments in the gift of the crown.  Unfortunately for them Robert Bruce scarcely outlived the struggle which secured his seat on the throne, and the reign of his son David II. Was one series of misfortunes.  Upon the death of David, in 1370, without male issue, the scepter descended to Robert II. the infant son of Margery, sister of David, by Walter Stuart, the first of a family noted for selfishness and neglect of every one possessing any spirit of independence; and from them the relations and friends of the Bruce experienced few marks of favour.

 

Duncan, brother of Sir Roger, mentioned above as having acquired the Barony of Torthorwald, was also a strenuous patriot, and exerted himself much in aid of Sir William Wallace, having been compelled more than once to take shelter in Esdaile woods and elsewhere, from the vengeance of the victorious English.  The Scots, well aware that the English excelled them in the art of assaulting and defending walls, generally, in case of defeat, betook themselves to the hills and woods, acting upon the advice of Bruce, not to shut themselves up to be starved or burnt out, and upon the maxim of Douglas, that ‘it was better to hear the lark sing, than the mouse cheep.’  In the skirmish near Lochmaben, when Wallace was pursued by the English garrison, the Baron of Torthorwald and Sir John Grahame, with their followers, came most opportunely to his assistance.

 

Kyrkpatrick yat cruell was and keyne,

In Esdaill wod yat half yer he had beyne,

With Inglishmen he couth nocht weill accord,

Of Torthorwald he Baron was and Lord,

Of kyn he was to Wallace modyr ner,

Of Crawford syd, &c.

 

                                                            Wallace, Book 5.

 

The mother of Wallace was daughter of Sir Ronald Crawford, Sheriff of Ayr, and aunt of Kirkpatrick.

 

The Scots gained this battle, in which, says the Bard,

 

Kyrkpatrick’s douchty deed was nobill for to ken,

 

And for which he received the acknowledgments of Wallace;

 

Kyrkpatrick syne that was his cusin der,

He thankyt him rycht on a gud maner.

 

The conquerors repaired to Lochmaben Castle, which they took by stratagem, and left the following day, after having placed a governor of their own in it.  But it appears that he was again compelled to seek safety from the overwhelming English force by concealment.

 

Kyrkpatrick past in Aisdaill wodds wide,

In saftie there he thocht he suld abide.

 

From this retreat he again issued to join his cousin Wallace at the battle of Bigger.

 

Yar came intill yar company,

Kyrkpatrick befor in Esdaill was, &c.

 

                                                            Wallace, Book 6.

 

Umphray, son of Duncan and Isabel, made a settlement and obtained a Confirmatory Charter of the lands of Torthorwald from King Robert Brus, 16th July, 1322, who also granted to him that he should hold his lands of Torthorwald in Free Forest – a grant which conferred great privileges, and was highly valued in those days.  His son Sir Robert was taken prisoner at the battle of Dupplin.  Roger, son of Robert, obtained a charter from John the Grahame, son of Sir John Grahame of Moskesson, of an annual rent arising out of the lands of Over Dryffe, 1355.  This family, which had acquired by marriage the Barony of Torthorwald, subsequently merged by marriage in the Lords Carliel, who thereby became Barons of thorthorwald; and the Barony not long afterwards passed to Douglas of Drumlanrig, by the marriage of Margaret, daughter of William Lord Torthorwald, with William Douglas, third baron of Drumlanrig, who died in 1464, and whose descendant, William third Earl of Queensbury, was in 1682 created marquis, and in 1684 Duke of Queensbury, Marquis of Dunfriesshire, Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, Viscount of Nith, Torthorwald and Ross.

 

Of the castle of Thorthorwald, which was large and strongly built, but a small fragment now remains, through it was repaired so lately as the year 1630.  It served as a garrison for the King’s troops during the reign of Charles II.

 

7.  Sir Thomas the eldest son of Sir Roger succeeded, and for his father’s and his own special services to his king and country, got from King Robert the Brus, the lands of Bridburgh in the Sheriffdom of Dumfries, by charter dated at Lochmaben, 24th May, in the 14th year of his reign (1319).

 

He contracted his daughter to Sir John Carliel (ancestor of the Lords Carliel of Torthorwald) grandson of Sir William Carliel and the Lady Margaret Brus, sister to the King; the marriage contract between the fathers of the young people, is dated 8th March, 1332.

 

In 1327 war broke out again, and the Border Chiefs were of course involved in the contest.  Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick and his followers took part in the several engagements which ensued, and in the fatal battle of Halidon, 19th July 1333, in the list of prisoners are Thomas Kirkpatrick and Roger Kirkpatrick.  And again in the still more fatal battle of Neville Cross near Durham, 17th October 1346, when Keith the hereditary Earl Mareschal and Sir Thomas Charteris the Chancellor were killed, and King David himself with the Earls of Sutherland, Fife, Monteith, Carrick, Lord Douglas, and many other noblemen taken prisoners, Fordun gives in his list of killed Reginald Kirkpatrick, and of prisoners Roger, taken by Ralph of Hastings, who, dying of a wound received in the encounter, “bequeathed the body of his prisoner, Roger de Kirkpatrick, to his joint legatees, Edmund Hastings of Kynthorp and John de Kirkely for ransom.”

Roger, brother of this Sir Thomas, inherited all the loyalty and valour of his ancestors.  While David II. son of Robert Bruce was in captivity, and King Edward with his troops had been driven back by famine into England, he besieged and took the castles of Caerlaveroc, Durrisdeer and Dalswinton (1355), bringing all Nithsdale under the command of its lawful sovereign.  (Buchannan’s History.)  The Prior of Lochleven speaks thus of him:

 

Roger Kyrkpatrick, Nyddysdale

Held at the Scottis fay al hale,

Syne the castle of Dalswynton

Was taken and dwyn down,

Syne Caerlaveroc taken had he;

He was a man of gret bownte,

Honorabil wys and rycht worthie,

He couth rycht mekil of cumpanie,

 

                                                Wynton, b.8,c.43.

 

In the Agreement made at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 13 January 1354, concerning the liberation of King David Brus, among the hostages to be given for payment of the ransom (which hostages were twenty youths of the first quality) was the son and heir of Roger de Kirkpatrick.  And accordingly Umfred son and heir of the said Roger, together with John, son and heir of the Lord High Steward of Scotland, was delivered up to Lord Percy in the year 1357.  And in the list of Nobles and Barons present in the Parliament at Edinburgh, 26th September, 1357, to settle about the Kings ransom, is the name of Roger Kirkpatrick.

 

Caerlaveroc castle, situate on the north shore of the Solway, near the mouth of the Nith, formerly a place of considerable strength, and still an interesting ruin, had been taken by Edward the First after a siege, somewhat famous in Scottish history for its gallant defence.  The celebrated Roll of Caerlaveroc, among the MSS. In the Bodleian, gives the names and banners of those Knights who attended Edward I. in his expedition into Scotland.  The banners of Edward the Martyr and Edward the Confessor were borne at the siege, and the Bishop of Durham sent 150 men at arms under his banner, charged with his paternal arms alone without those of his see.  Three men of Kent, Henry and Simon de Leybourne (younger sons of Sir William de Leyborne, who had lately entertained Edward the First at Leybourne, near Maidstone, now the seat of Sir Joseph Hawley) and Stephen de Cosenton (in the neighbouring parish of Aylesford, and adjoining the celebrated Kits Coty House, the burial place of Catigern) were knighted under the royal banner at Caerlaveroc, for their gallant conduct at the siege.

 

When David the Second obtained his freedom, he not only knighted Roger Kirkpatrick, but as a reward for his devotions and bravery in recovering the place, bestowed upon him Caerlaveroc castle and lands, which had formerly been held of the Crown by the Maxwells, to whom it subsequently reverted, and it is still held by a branch of that family.

 

In his castle of Caerlaveroc Sir Roger Kirkpatrick was murdered, in fulfillment, as in that superstitious age was believed, of a prophecy of vengeance uttered by a spirit in the Grey Friars Church of Dumfries, after the slaughter of the Red Cummin.  The corpse on the night after his death was watched in the church, by the Dominicans indignant at the desecration.  At midnight all the friars fell asleep, except one aged priest, who with the greatest astonishment heard a voice in distress exclaim, “How long, O Lord, shall vengeance be deferred?”  and a response in a dreadful tone, “Endure with patience till the anniversary of this day shall return for the 52nd time.”

 

“Exactly 52 years after the Cummin’s death,” says Playfair, “James of Lindsay, son of that Lindsay who had entered the Dominican Church with Sir Roger, was hospitably entertained at the Castle of Caerlaveroc, by Roger Kirkpatrick sprung from his father’s friend.  At midnight, for some reason unknown, Lindsay arose and mortally stabbed in his bed his unguarded host.  He then took horse and fled, but after riding till daybreak, he was seized only three miles from the castle, and by command of King David suffered death for his crime at Dumfries.”  The affair is thus related by the Prior of Lochleven: --

That ilk yhere in our kynryk,

Roger was slain of Kyrkpatrick

Be Schyr Jakkis the Lyndesny,

In til Karlaveroc, and away

For til have bene with all his mycht,

This Lyndesay pressit all a nycht,

Forth on hors rycht fast rydand,

Nevertheless yhit thai him fand

Nocht thre myle frn that ilk place,

There tane and brocht again he was,

Til Karlaveroc, be thai men

That frendes war til Kyrkpatrick then,

Thare war he kepyd rycht straytly;

His* wyf passyd til the King Dawy,

And prayed him of his realte,+

Of Law that sche mycht serwyd be,

The King Dawy than also fast

Til Dumfries with his Curt he past,

As Law wold, qwhat was thare mare,

This Lindesay to deth he gert do thare.

 

                                                Wynton Chron. b. 8, c. 44.

 

In the 4th Vol. of Sir Walter Scott’s Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, this event forms the subject of a Ballad contributed by his friend the late Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, “The Murder of Caerlaveroc.”

 

“Now, come to me, my little page,

   Of wit, sae wondrous sly!

Ne’er under flower, o’ youthfu’ age,

   Did mair destruction lie.

 

“I’ll dance and revel wi’ the rest,

   Within this castle rare;

Yet he shall rue the drearie feast,

   Bot and his lady fair.

 


* Kirkpatrick’s wife.

+ Realte or Regality, the exclusive right of administering justice within a man’s own lands.  This, which gave rise to great abuse, was put an end to by Act 43. Parl. 1455.    

 

“For ye maun drug Kirkpatrick’s wine,

   Wi’ juice o’ poppy flowers;

Nae mair he’ll see the morning shine

   Frae proud Caerlaveroc’s towers.

 

“For he has twined my love and me,

   The maid of mickle scorn –

She’ll welcome wi’ a tearfu’ ee

   Her widowhood the morn.

 

“And saddle weel my milk-white steed,

   Prepare my harness bright!

Gif I can make my rival bleed,

   I’ll ride awa this night.” –

 

“Now haste ye, master, to the ha’!

   The guests are drinking there;

Kirkpatrick’s pride sall be but sma’,

   For a’ his lady fair.” –

 

 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

 

 

In came the merry minstrelsy,

   Shrill harps wi’ tinkling string,

And bagpipes, lilting melody,

   Made proud Caerlaveroc ring.

 

These gallant knights, and ladies bright,

   Did move to measures fine,

Like frolic fairies, jimp and light,

   Wha dance in pale moonshine.

 

The ladies glided through the ha’,

   Wi’ footing swift and sure –

Kirkpatrick’s dame outdid them a’,

   When she stood on the floor.

 

And some had tyres of gold sae rare,

   And pendants eight or nine;

And she, wi’ but her golden hair,

   Did a’ the rest outshine.

 

And some wi’ costly diamonds sheen,

   Did warriors’ hearts assail –

But she, wi’ her twa sparkling een,

   Pierced through the thickest mail

 

Kirkpatrick led her by the hand

   Wi’ gay and courteous air;

No stately castle in the land

   Could show sae bright a pair.

 

 

O he was young – and clear the day

   Of life to youth appears!

Alas! how soon his setting ray

   Was dimm’d wi’ show’ring tears.

 

Fell Lindsay sicken’d at the sight,

   And sallow grew his cheek;

He tried wi’ smiles to hid his spite,

   But word he cou’dna speak.

 

The gorgeous banquet was brought up

   On silver and on gold,

The page chose out a crystal cup,

   The sleepy juice to hold.

 

And whan Kirkpatrick call’d for wine,

   This page the drink would bear;

Nor did the knight or dame divine,

   Sic black deceit was near.

 

Then every lady sang a sang;

    Some gay – some sad and sweet,

Like tunefu’ firds the woods amang,

   Till a’ begun to greet.

 

E’en cruel Lindsay shed a tear,

   Forletting malice deep –

As mermaids wi’ their warbles clear,

   Can sing the waves to sleep.

 

And now to bed they all are dight,

   Now steek thy ilka door;

There’s nought but stillness o’ the night

   Whare was sic din before.

 

Fell Lindsay put his harness on,

   His steed doth ready stand;

And up the staircase is he gone,

   Wi’ poniard in his hand.

 

The sweat did on his forehead break,

   He shook wi’ guilty fear;

In air he heard a joyfu’ shriek,

   Red Cummin’s ghaist was near.

 

Now to the chamber doth he creep –

   A lamp of glimmering ray,

Show’d young Kirkpatrick fast asleep

   In arms of lady gay.

 

He lay wi’ bare unguarded breast,

   By sleepy juice beguiled;

And sometimes sigh’d by dreams opprest,

   And sometimes sweetly smiled.

 

Unclosed her mouth o’ rosy hue,

   Whence issued fragrant air,

That gently, in soft motion, blew

   Stray ringlets o’er her hair.

 

“Sleep on, sleep on, ye luvers dear!

   The dame may wake to weep –

But that day’s sun maun shine fu’ clear,

   That spills this warriors sleep.”

 

He louted down – her lips he press’d –

   O! kiss foreboding woe!

Then struck on young Kirkpatrick’s breast

   A deep and deadly blow.

 

Sair, Sair, and meikle did he bleed;

   His lady slept till day,

But dreamt the Firth flowed o’er her head,

   In bride-bed as she lay.

 

The murderer hasted down the stair,

   And back’d his courser fleet;

Then did the thunder ‘gin to rair,

   Then shower’d the rain and sleet.

 

Ae fire-flaught darted through the rain,

   Whare a’ was mirk before,

And glinted o’er the ranging main,

   That shook the sandy shore.

 

But mirk and kirker grew the night,

   And heavier beat the rain;

And quicker Lindsay urged his flight,

   Some ha’ or beild to gain.

 

Lang did he ride o’er hill and dale,

   Nor mire nor flood he fear’d;

I trow his courage ‘gan to fail

   When morning light appear’d.

 

For having hied, the live-lang night,

   Through hail and heavy showers,

He fand himself, at peep o’ light,

   Hard by Caerlaveroc’s towers.

 

The Castle bell was ringing out,

   The ha’ was all aster;

And mony a screech and waefu’ shout,

   Appall’d the murderer’s ear.

 

Now they hae bound this traitor strang

   Wi’ curses and wi’ blows,

And high in air they did him hang,

   To feed the carrion crows.

 

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

 

“To sweet Lincluden’s haly cells

   Fou dowie I’ ll repair;

There Peace wi’ gentle Patience dwells,

   Nae deadly feuds are there.

 

“In tears I’ll wither ilka charm,

   Like draps o’ balefu’ yew;

And wail the beauty that cou’d harm

   A Knight sae brave and true.”

 

 

Lincluden Abbey is situated near Dumfries on the banks of the river Cluden.  It was founded and filled with Benedictine nuns in the time of Malcolm IV. by Uthred, father to Roland, Lord of Galloway, in opposing whose claim in 1187, Kirkpatrick was slain as above mentioned.  These nuns were expelled by Archibald the Grim, Earl of Douglas. – Vide Pennant.

 

 


 

 


The End