St Baldred of the Bass

ST BALDRED OF THE BASS, A Pictish Legend; THE SIEGE OF BERWICK, A Tragedy; WITH OTHER POEMS AND BALLADS, FOUNDED ON THE LOCAL TRADITIONS OF EAST LOTHIAN AND BERWICKSHIRE.

SAINT BALDRED OF THE BASS

As starting from their fearful swoon
The astonished friars leap to their feet;
The stoled biers look wildly on,
And deem the vision is complete:

CONTENTS.

SAINT BALDRED. — SAINT BALDRED OF THE BASS. — Introductory Stanzas. — SAINT BALDRED OF THE BASS. PART I. — The Funeral. — Requiem First. — Requiem Second. — Requiem Third. — SAINT BALDRED OF THE BASS. PART II. — The Pilgrimage. — NOTES TO SAINT BALDRED. — Introductory Stanzas. — NOTES TO SAINT BALDRED. PART I. — 1. — 2. — 3. — 4. — 5. — 6. — 7. — 8. — 9. — 10. — 11. — 12. — 13. — 14. — 15. — 16. — 17. — 18. — 19. — NOTES TO SAINT BALDRED. PART II. — 1. — 2. — 3. — 4. — 5. — 6. — 7. — 8. — 9. — 10. — 11. — 12. — 13. — 14. — 15. — 16.

Saint Baldred, the venerable subject of the following poem, was the disciple of Kentigern or St Mungo, the tutelary saint of Glasgow. According to Boece, he was of Scottish descent; and, during the reign of Brudeus, king of the Picts, held his pastoral charge in East Lothian, which then formed part of the kingdom of Pictland. His instructor in the faith was the reputed son of Thametis, a Pictish princess,^[1] who was cousin to the reigning monarch; it is probable, therefore, from this circumstance, that he enjoyed the smiles of royal patronage and favour.

“The Breviary of Aberdeen,” says Dr Jamieson, in his History of the Culdees, “contains some particulars with respect to Baldred, which I have not met with 4any where else. ‘This suffragan of St Kentigern flourished in Lothian, in virtues and in illustrious miracles. Being eminently devout, he renounced all worldly pomp, and, following the example of John the Divine, resided in solitary places, and betook himself to the islands of the sea. Among these he had recourse to one called Bass, where he led a life, without all question, contemplative and strict, in which, for many years, he held up to remembrance the most blessed Kentigern, his instructor, in the constant contemplation of the sanctity of his conduct.’”—Hist. Culdees, p. 190.

“In this work,” continues the doctor, “we find a miracle ascribed to the worthy Baldred, that must have rendered him an inestimable acquisition to a people living on a rocky coast.—‘There was a great rock between the said island and the adjacent land, which remained fixed in the middle of the passage, unmoved by all the force of the waves, giving the greatest hinderance to navigation, and often causing shipwrecks. The blessed Baldred, moved by piety, ordered that he should be placed on this rock. This being done, at his nod the rock was immediately lifted up, and, like a ship driven by a favourable breeze, proceeded to the nearest shore, and henceforth remained in the same place, as a memorial of this miracle, and is to this day 5called St Baldred’s Coble or Cock-boat.”—A small rock, at the mouth of Aldham bay, still bears the name of Baudron’s Boat.

If personal safety merited consideration from the ascetic, who was all but adored in that rude age, and who lived a life of patriarchal innocence and simplicity, we may suppose that he retired to the “strong castle” of the Bass from prudential motives; for, at this period, an exterminating war raged between the Scots and the Picts, at the instigation of Ethelfrid, the pagan prince of Northumberland, who sought his own aggrandisement in the destruction of the contending nations.

While residing in this solitude, Baldred died 6th March 607–8.—See Boece’s Chron. and Keith’s Cat. He was held in such veneration by the natives, that on his demise, the three neighbouring parishes of Aldham, Tyningham, and Preston, laid claim to his remains. It being impossible to satisfy the multitude without supernatural agency, the enraged embassy were on the point of deciding their right by blows, when a Pictish sage judiciously advised them to spend the night in prayer, that the bishop of the diocese might have an opportunity of settling their dispute in the morning.

“When day dawned,” says Holinshed, “there were found three biers with three bodies decently covered with clothes, so like in all resemblance, that no man 6might perceive any difference. Then by commandment of the bishop, and with great joy of all the people, the said several bodies were carried severally unto the said three several churches, and in the same buried in most solemnwise, where they remain unto this day, in much honour with the common people of the countries near adjoining.”—Holin. Chron. vol. i.

The same legend assumes a more warlike attitude in the English Martyrology.

“The people waxing wroth took arms, and each of them sought by force to enjoy the same; and when the matter came to issue, the said sacred body was found all whole in three distinct places of the house where he died: so as the people of each village coming thither, and carrying the same away, placed it in their churches, and kept it with great honour and veneration for the miracles that at each place it pleased God to work.”^[2]

In the Breviary of Aberdeen, before quoted, we are informed, that “the inhabitants of the three parishes 7which were under his charge, as soon as they knew of his death, assembled in three different troops at Aldham, where he breathed his last, severally begging his body. But, as they could not agree among themselves, they, by the advice of a certain old man, left the body unburied, and separately betook themselves to prayer. Morning being come (as aforesaid) they found three bodies perfectly alike, and all prepared with equal pomp for interment. Each of the companies, of course, departed well pleased; and each parish erected a monument over that body of the saint which had fallen to their share.”

“Such was the credulity of these times,” concludes the doctor, “that it was believed, that the body of the saint was in all these places; and this, of course, afforded an irrefragable proof of the doctrine of transubstantiation. Camerarius gravely says, that, ‘for the termination of the dispute between these parochial churches, it was at length effected, by the prayers of the saint himself (for nothing is impossible with God) that each of them should enjoy this treasure.’”—Major asserts the doctrine as supported by this fact.—See Hist. Culdees, pp. 191, 188.

According to the learned Chalmers, a Saxon monastery of St Baldred was established at Tyningham, at an after period, whose diocese comprehended the 8whole of East Lothian, and whose lands, says Simeon, the monk of Durham, extended from Lammermoor to Inveresk. “Et tota terra quæ pertinet ad monasterium sancti Balthere, quod vocatur Tyningham a Lambermore usque ad Escemuthe.”

Two elegant Saxon arches, the remains of the old chapel, still ornament the beautiful domain of Tyningham, where the principal scene of the poem is laid.

34Hymn.

END OF PART FIRST.

Spirit.

Maid.

1.

There are some ingenious observations on the sea-coast, in the appendix to the Agricultural Survey of East Lothian, wherein the writer supposes that the ancient fortress of Tantallon, which is now nearly insulated, once stood at a considerable distance from the sea. He imagines that the perpendicular shore on each side of the castle, which consists for the most part of soft earth, and upwards of two hundred feet in height, leads the mind back to the time when this shore ended in a gentle slope, and extended greatly beyond the Bass.

2.

As early as the reign of William, a chapel stood on the isle of Fidrey, near the shore of Elbotle, (now forming part of the parish of Dirleton,) dedicated to St Nicolas. The ruins still remain.

3.

Bede relates of St Cuthbert, that when on a visit to the Abbess of Coldingham, one of the monks having discovered that the saint left the monastery in the night, had the curiosity to trace his steps, when he discovered him on the sea-shore, standing up to the 74neck in water, where he spent the hours in prayer till the time of the morning devotions. Having retired from the waves, two sea calves came forth from the sea, and, approaching the saint, warmed his feet with their breath, and wiped them dry with their skins, after which, on receiving his benediction, they retired to the deep.

4.

Fenan, the successor of Aidan at Lindisfarn, built a church in the Scottish fashion, of beams and planks of oak, covered with reeds, which in those times was judged fit for the seat of a bishop.—See Bede, book iii. chap. 25. The splendid cathedral of York, which is esteemed the largest and most magnificent in Europe, owes its origin to a church built hastily of wood about the time of this poem, and dedicated to St Peter. These rustic houses of prayer were held in such veneration, that afterwards, as was the case with York Minster, when churches of stone began to be built, they commonly comprehended the old fabric within their walls. From various passages in Bede, it appears that the monks employed their leisure hours in the cultivation of agriculture and of the arts. Easterwin, colleague of the abbot of Weremouth, though a man of noble birth, and who had been the minister of King Egfrid, yet having abandoned secular affairs, he sought not to be distinguished from the other brethren, but would fan, grind, milk cows or sheep, guide the plough, beat out iron, work in the bakehouse, &c., and employ himself in any business relative to the monastery as an example to others.—See Border Hist. Scot.

5.

The ruins of the Cistertian nunnery of North Berwick stand on an eminence south-west from the town, and command a delightful 75view of the sea, the shores of Fife, the Bass, and an immense conical hill, called North Berwick Law, which rises at least 800 feet above the level of the sea. Of this nunnery there are three views in Grose’s Scottish Antiquities. It was consecrated to the Virgin Mary, and founded by Malcolm, son of Duncan, Earl of Fife, in 1216. Besides the patronage of the church of Kilconchar, granted to this place by the Earls of Carrick, and other advowsons, Dame Isabel Home, daughter to Alexander Home of Polwart, prioress of this nunnery, gave to her kinsman, Alexander Home, in feu, the teind sheaves of Largo church in Fife, in 1532; and Dame Margaret Home, her successor, and daughter to the same family, gave a tack of the parsonage-teinds of Logie, in the diocese of Dunblane, to Sir Patrick Home of Polwart and his heirs, in 1555.—See Spotswood’s Acct. Religious Houses. But Sir James Dalrymple states, that the elder Earl Duncan, who died in 1154, was the founder, whose father gave to the monastery the lands of Muthritht in Fife, and other lands, which were confirmed by King William, as also those of Kirkamstown, and of two hospitals. The church had been originally the cell or kirk of a religious person, called Campston.

At the Reformation the revenues of the nunnery were converted by operation of law into a lordship for Sir Alexander Home, a favourite of James VI. At this epoch the nunnery was inhabited by eleven nuns, who had each L.20 a year.—See Caledonia, vol. ii. p. 506.

A picturesque ruin stands on a sandy eminence, near the harbour of North Berwick. The adjacent ground seems to have been a burial place, from the number of human bones scattered around.—Grose.

At Elbotle and Golyn there were also convents of Cistertians; but what may appear remarkable, these cells belonged not to North Berwick, but to South Berwick.

6.

Bodotria Æstuarium, the mouth of the Frith of Forth.

Boece describes the Bass as “ane wounderful crag, risand within the see, with sa narro and strait hals (passage) that na schip nor bait may arrive bot allanerlie at ane part of it. This crag is callit the Bas; unwinnabill be ingine of man. In it ar coves, als proffitable for defence of men, as they were biggit be crafty industry.—Bellenden’s Boece, vol. 1. cap. xxxvii.—The ruins of the castle, or rather of later fortifications, still remain.

“Ane multitude of fische was sene in Forth, the tane half of thame above the watter, na thing different fra the figour of man; callit, be the pepil, Bassinatis. Thir fische hes blak skinnis hingand on thair bodyis, with quhilk, sum time, thay covir thair heid and thair cragis, evin to thair schulderis. Quhen thir fische fletis in our seyis, thay signify gret infortuniteis to mortal pepill.—Ibid, vol. ii. 179.—These monsters were probably seals, or sea-dogs, which frequent the mouth of Tyne; but which now come and go without either breeding terror to man or murrain to cattle.

“The spirit of Loda sat, in his cloud, behind the ships of Frothal. He hung forward with all his blasts, and spread the white-bosomed sails.”—Ossian.

Loda is supposed to be the ancient Odin of Scandinavia.

The priest of Garmilton, or Garleton, is an imaginary character; but from the writs of Garmilton it appears, that there was a chapel of St Mungo existed there in 1457.

1. “Foundation of William Tours and his spouse in honour of the altar of St Mungo, of an annual of ten merks yearly, out of certain lands in Haddington, January 3, 1457.

2. “An indenture betwixt Sir James Tours, and Walter Henderson, chaplain of the chaplainry of his chapel of Garleton, founded of St Mungo, May 26, 1534.

3. “Charter granted by Alexander Tours of Innerleith of the chaplainry of St Mungo, situate in Garleton-Noble, in favour of Finlay Hunter, of all and hail, a tenement of land in Haddington, dated last January 14.”—Heads of the Writs of Garmilton.

Near the chapel was a mineral spring, called, from the virtue of its waters, the Vertur Well. It was much resorted to by persons afflicted with scrofulous disorders.

Anciently there were two villages or hamlets at Garleton, called Garmilton-Noble (from William Noble,) and Garmilton Alexander (from Alexander II.) or Mid Garleton, now East and West Garleton. In 1507, the Garletons passed from Lindsay of the Byres to the celebrated Sir David Lindsay of the Mount, poet, 78and Lord Lyon King at Arms, during the reign of James V.; from him it was conveyed to John Tours, next to George, Earl of Winton; in 1720 to Sir Francis Kinloch, and in 1724 to the Earl of Wemyss.—The original name is evidently derived from Gar-mull-ton, the bare rocky town, which is applicable to its situation.

There was an old song in praise of Garleton, which Mr Skirving, author of the fine satirical song on the battle of Prestonpans, and the father of the celebrated painter of that name, was wont to sing, but I never heard more than the two first lines, printed in italics; the other lines I have added, to give some meaning to the verses:

It is more than probable that St Kentigern or Mungo resided in this neighbourhood, as the chapel of Garleton is the only one which I have discovered, dedicated to St Mungo in East Lothian; and about a mile and a half from its site is a place still called Mungo’s Wells. I may conclude in the words of Chalmers, that “at the romantic foot of the Garleton hills stands the house of Garleton, which shows in its present ruins its ancient magnificence.”—For a strange story of an apparition, connected with this decayed mansion, see my notes on witchcraft, appended to the “Lost Drave,” in this volume; and for an account of the remains of a Pictish town or fort near this place, see notes to the “Vision of Hungus.”

While on this subject, I may be pardoned for introducing another ballad to the notice of the reader, of more importance.

David Lindsay, third son of Patrick, fourth Lord Lindsay 79and Byres, was killed at the battle of Flodden. Some of his tenants probably accompanied him to that fatal field, since the old song says,

It were devoutly to be wished that more of this ballad could be recovered. The Hule now consists of a few cottages on the farm of Prora, in the parish of Athelstaneford. The epithet rouny seems here used as a term of reproach. Old Scottish nicknames commonly terminated with that syllable; as, custroun, a poor pitiful fellow, &c.—See Sibbald’s Glossary.

There was a chapel dedicated to St Columba in the isle of Troda, near the northernmost point of Sky, called Hunish. In Hadda-Chuan also, that is, Hadda of the Ocean, which is about two leagues distant from Hunish Point, there is another chapel dedicated to the same saint.

“It has an altar in the east end; and there is a blue stone of a round form on it, which is always moist. It is an ordinary custom, when any of the fishermen are detained in the isle, by contrary winds, to wash the blue stone with water all around, expecting thereby to procure a favourable wind, which the credulous tenant living in the isle, says, never fails, especially if a stranger wash the stone. The stone is likewise applied to the sides of people troubled with stitches, and they say it is effectual for that purpose. And so great is the regard that they have for this stone, that they swear decisive oaths on it.”—See Western Islands, p. 27, and Hist. Culdees, p. 184.

It has been conjectured that the Culdees had a cell near Aberlady. There are still visible the vestiges of a small chapel on the north-west corner of the church-yard. “Kilspindie, the place of their settlement, near Aberlady, (observes Chalmers,) is supposed to have derived its name from the Culdees; Cil-ys-pen-du, signifying, in the British speech, the cell of the Black Heads.”

Cormac, as regards the poem, is a fictitious personage; but while St Columba resided at the court of Brudi, King of the Picts, he met with the Regulus, or petty prince of the Orkneys, whose protection he solicited for Cormac, one of his disciples, whom he foreknew was on his way to the Western Islands.—Hist. Culd. p. 179.

I may add, with respect to this monk’s being deemed a cunning artisan, that in a monastery which St Mungo founded in Wales, “there were daily entertained six hundred three score and three persons, of which number three hundred were kept at some manual work within the monastery; other three hundred did labour in the fields, and practise husbandry; and the rest being appointed for divine service, had the day and night divided among them, so that there were some always in the church praising God.”—Spotswood, p. 11.

The introduction of the Bishop of Lindisfarn may in part be considered an anachronism; as, according to Chalmers, the epoch of this bishoprick did not exist till 30 years afterwards, when it extended over the ample range of Lothian, and continued till the 81decline of the Northumbrian kingdom. Tyningham belonged to this bishoprick, saith Hoveden.—Caledonia, vol. ii. p. 501. In King Duncan’s charter of grants to St Cuthbert, (who was successor to Aidan,) the following four places are mentioned: Tyningham, Aldham, Scuchale (Scoughal) and Cnolle (Knowes,) with Hetherwick and Brocesmouth.—Ibid.

For an account of the Gyre Carling, the mother witch of the Scottish peasantry, see notes to the “Lost Drave” in this volume.

The legend of St Serf is a specimen of the absurd tales that amused the ignorant in the early ages.

St Mungo was the disciple of St Serf. The long conversation between St Serf and the devil in a cave at Dysart, is a valuable specimen of the theology and logic of that age: When Satan found he could not subdue the Saint,

Amongst other miracles related of St Serf, when he landed in Fife, on his way to Culross,

82The story of his favourite ram must not be passed over: On the thief being brought into the Saint’s presence,

The abbey of Inch-Colm was founded by Alexander I. about the year 1123; but it was dedicated to St Columba, abbot of Iona, and had formerly been possessed by one of his followers. Veneration for the memory of Columba is assigned as the reason of the royal foundation. It is said, that the king, when attempting to cross at the Queen’s Ferry, being overtaken by a violent storm from the south, urged the mariners to run into the isle Aemonia, where at that time lived a certain hermit, who, devoted to the service of St Columba, diligently attended to the duties of religion, contenting himself with such slender support as the milk of one cow and the shell fishes on the sea shore afforded. The king and his company being confined here for three days by the storm, were supported by these means; and, because from his youth he was attached to St Columba, and had vowed to him, when in danger of perishing by the storm, that, if he arrived safely at this island, he would erect some monument worthy of his memory, he afterwards founded and endowed the abbey here.—Vide Regist. Inch-Colm, 56.—See Hist. Culd. p. 187.

“The Pict (says Herodian) has generally no use in apparel, howbeit the nobler sort of them do wrap their heads and wombs 83“in hoops of iron, esteeming this kind of attire, in such as wear the same, to be a token of wealth and riches. Besides shaving their nether lip, they painted over their bodies with the image of all kinds of beasts. They esteemed it a great glory to have these paintings seen, instead of other armour, with a short lance and narrow target or buckler. Their swords were tied to their naked sides with a thong; and as for jack, shirt of mail or helmet, they made no regard of them, because they would trouble them in swimming, or when compelled to wade.”—Holinshed’s Chron. The end of the Pictish lance contained a hollow bullet of brass, filled with small pieces of iron, which made a great noise when shaken.

Jhules, a particular species of genii, which the northern nations worship on certain festivals: they are supposed to inhabit the air, and to have great power over human actions, yet are without form or substance. As the Picts are considered to have been a colony of Scandinavians, or more northern nations, it seems not out of place to introduce the objects of Teutonic superstition.

A clerical friend of mine is of opinion, that we may trace the etymology of Dirleton from Derili king of the Picts. If so, it establishes this beautiful domain as a royal residence of great antiquity. As the principal seat of the Pictish kings was situated on the Tay, on the opposite coast, its proximity to the shores of Fife might render it a desirable residence for a young prince, when it was more safe and expeditious to travel by sea than over a barbarous country.

Derili was the son of Brudeus, the patron of Kentigern, who 84was the instructor of Baldred. In the year 700, Brude V., the son of Derili, bestowed the island of Lochleven on St Serf and the Culdees residing there.—See Hist. Culdees, p. 131. According to Winton, there was another of this sirname, called Nectan Derly, who reigned in 716:

Conwal and Asaph were both disciples of St Mungo.—Keith’s Cat. p. 232. The latter, like Baldred, was bishop and confessor, a title only given to those who, in spite of persecution, had adhered to the faith. Those who may be credulous of the self-inflicted mortifications I have ascribed to these early saints, may consult Swift’s Jocelin’s Life of St Patrick, p. 244. Their master, St Mungo, after he came to the years of understanding, never tasted flesh nor drank wine, but slept on the cold ground, with a stone for his pillow.—See Spotswood, p. 11.

Aldham church was situated on the sea-cliff west from the village. Its ruins were visible in 1770, but have since been removed to make room for agricultural improvements. This church was said to be founded by Baldred. At Scoughall, a short distance eastward from Aldham, were also the remains of a chapel.

The church of Tyningham was founded by St Baldred in the sixth century. This chapel had the privilege of sanctuary; for Malcolm IV. granted to the monks of Kelso the church of Inverlethan, with the same privileges of that kind as Tyningham and Stowe enjoyed, both of which belonged to the see of St Andrews.—Chalmers’ Cal. vol. ii. p. 545.

The ruins of the church, which still remain, will be noticed in the subsequent pages.

At Whitberry point, near the mouth of the Tyne, a deep fissure formed between two rocks, is called St Baldred’s Cradle, which tradition says elegantly, is “rocked by the winds and the waves.” A small rock at the mouth of Aldham bay is called Baudron’s (Baldred’s) Boat. See Introduction to the poem, p. 5.

Cnolle (Knowes) is one of the places mentioned in the charter of King Duncan to St Cuthbert. As a living proof that it stands on holy ground, a field adjoining to the present farm house is called the Bishop’s Garden. Some years ago, the workmen of Mr 86Hunter, while giving a deep furrow to a field south from the house, came upon the remains of an ancient cemetery. It contained, in coffins, formed of stone flags, a number of human skeletons, placed in regular rows, with their feet to the east. From the ground occupied, it was calculated that six or seven hundred bodies may have been thus interred. As the teeth of those examined were entire, and the skeletons measured from four feet four to more than six feet, it was reasonably conjectured that they were the victims of a battle. This conclusion is strengthened from the circumstance, that, in a park, about half a mile distant, on the farm of Kirkland-hill, is one of those rudely sculptured perpendicular stones, which are commonly supposed to mark the scene of contention of an early period. A similar rude monument stands on the north side of Pencraik-hill; as also several in Athelstaneford parish, which I shall have occasion to notice in my notes to the “Vision of Hungus.”

The church of Prestonkirk is supposed to have been originally built for St Baldred; part of the ruins still remain contiguous to the modern fabric, which was built in 1770. The late Sir George Buchan Hepburn observes, in a letter to the author of Caledonia, that “Baldred’s statue lay long in the church-yard; and he had intended to have got it built into the church-wall; but, during his absence, an irreverent mason ignorantly broke it in pieces.”—Caledonia, vol. ii. p. 541.

An old intelligent carpenter told me, that this statue was similar to the one now lying in Tyningham church. It was called St Baudron’s; but was supposed to be the figure of some one who had left large endowments for ecclesiastical purposes.

The church, and the old village of Tyningham stood on the west side of the Tyne, about half a mile below the site of the present village. The latter terminated on the east by the side of an elm tree, and was removed for domestic improvements. The ruins of the church still remain, and consist of two beautiful Saxon arches, which are tastefully shaded with shrubbery, and have a picturesque appearance. This spot is now the cemetery of the noble family of the domain. Within the interior of the church there is a small niche, where three shields are sculptured in relievo. Below its arch a detached figure reclines, habited in a close gown, with hands claspt in the attitude of prayer. At the feet of this figure lies the symbolical lamb, originally holding the cross, which is broken away. The old carpenter formerly mentioned, told me that this statue, like that of Prestonkirk, was called St Baudrons. This, however, is evidently the statue of a lady.

Anlaf, the Dane, spoiled the church, and burnt the village of Tyningham, in 941, which, Chalmers observes, is a very early notice of the kirk-town of this place.

While the workmen of the Earl of Haddington were, a few years ago, clearing the ruins of the church, they dug a considerable way in search of relics. About five feet below the niche formerly mentioned something like burnt ashes were turned up, but nothing further discovered. If the relics of the saint were, however, spared by the fiery Dane, while in search of plunder, it is not likely they escaped the mania of the early centuries for this precious merchandise, when the tooths, legs, and arms of the saints were enchased in silver, and bartered at a high rate.

The Isle of May, like the Bass, forms a conspicuous object in the Frith of Forth. David I. founded a monastery on the island, for the monks of Reading, in Yorkshire, to whom it originally belonged, and dedicated his benefaction to all the saints. It was afterwards consecrated to St Adrian, who, along with Glodian, Gaius, (or, as others write, Monanus,) archdeacon of St Andrews, and Bishop Stolbrand, were martyred here by the Danes. It was afterwards purchased by William Lamberton, bishop of St Andrews, from the Abbot of Reading; who, notwithstanding the complaints 89of King Edward, bestowed it upon the canons regular of his cathedral.—See Holinshed. Like Whitekirk, it was of old much frequented by barren women on pilgrimage.

This island was next granted in feu by Charles I. to Cunningham of Burns, for the purpose of erecting a lighthouse for the benefit of mariners. A tower of forty feet was built for that purpose. The first builder was cast away, in a tempest raised by witchcraft, while returning from thence to his house in Fife, for which some unfortunate old women were executed.—See Keith’s Cat. p. 238, and Grose’s Scot. Ant. vol. i. p. 81.

A lighthouse, upon an improved plan, with revolving burners, has recently been erected.

This picturesque rock rises with a bold and rugged sweep, at least four hundred feet above the surface of the waters, and in the month of July looks like an enchanted island, where web-footed birds come to hold a jubilee. It is situated in the mouth of the Forth, about two miles from the shore, and is inaccessible except by a narrow passage in the west. The base of the rock is computed to be an English mile in circumference. From the depth of the water, extending from thirty to forty fathoms, its entire height may be estimated at six hundred feet. A cavern runs through the rock from east to west, which may be traversed at ebb-tide. It is dark in the centre, where there is a deep pool. While sailing on the south side of the rock, opposite the opening of this cave, it was truly delightful to contemplate its sublime scenery. The rock here appeared piled in tremendous masses, frowning over our heads, and scattered the restless waves as they rose against its rugged summits or washed its everlasting foundations, while myriads of sea birds sat secure and undisturbed on their lofty perches.

Besides the solan geese, which are its principal inhabitants, the Bass contains pasture for at least twenty sheep, celebrated it is said in the annals of gluttony; it has also a small warren of rabbits.

90The best season for visiting the Bass is during the incubation of the geese, in the months of June and July. The most propitious time is shortly after sunrise, when the waves are calm, and the greatest variety of birds to be seen. An easterly breeze must be avoided, otherwise the visitor may expect a good ducking if he sails round the north side of the rock.

About half way up the rock, a little below the old garden, is the remains of a chapel pretty entire, where the ammunition of the garrison was kept when the island was used as a state-prison for the Covenanters. The niches for the holy fonts show that it must have been built prior to the reformation of the church.

The Bass pays annually twelve geese to the church of North Berwick as part of the minister’s stipend.

The solan are commonly taken in the month of August. This is effected by hoisting the fowler over inaccessible places of the rock, by a rope fastened to a girdle. The young birds are killed by striking them on the head, while the boatmen below are ready to receive them. This perilous employment is often attended with danger from the falling of loose stones. Some years ago one of the fowlers would have been buried under a ton-weight of fragments, had he not had the presence of mind to swing himself under a jutting crag, where he remained in safety till the mass rolled over his head.

The solan resembles the cormorant and pelican, both in its manner of fishing, by diving from a great height, and the method of securing its prey in a dilatable pouch, of sufficient size to contain four or five herrings. The gannet or solan goose (the Pelecanus Bassanus of Linnæus) was supposed to breed no where in Europe save on the Bass, and the isle of Ailsa in the frith of Clyde; but they are also found on the Stark of Suliskerry, a holm or uninhabited island, a little to the south-west of the Orkney isles, and at St Kilda in the Hebrides.

The gannet also resembles the cormorant in its quickness of sight. It has a transparent membrane under the eyelid, with which it covers the whole eye at pleasure, without obscuring the sight, which seems a necessary provision for so weighty a creature, whose method of seizing its prey is by darting down headlong from a height of at least a hundred feet into the water. “They have a crane’s neck, and a strong sharp bill, about the length of one’s middle finger, with which they strike through their prey with such violence, that it often sticks in a board, baited with herring, so as they cannot pull it out again, and are catched by the inhabitants.”—Journey through Scot. 1723. Mr Pennant relates a similar story of one of these birds, which, when flying over Penzance, in Cornwall, saw some pilchards lying on a fir plank, upon which, darting down for the purpose of seizing them, it struck its bill through an inch and quarter plank, and was killed on the spot.

Holinshed observes, “Certes, there is nothing in this rock that 92is not full of admiration and wonder: therein is also great store of solan geese, (not unlike to those which Pliny calleth water eagles, or, as we say, sea herons,) and no where else but in Ailsa and this rock. At their first coming, they gather such great plenty of sticks and boughs together for the building of their nests, that the same do satisfy the keeper of the castle for the yearly maintenance of his fuel. Within the bowels of these geese there is a kind of grease to be had of singular force in medicine, and flaying likewise the skin from their bodies with the fat, they make an oil very profitable for the gout, and many other diseases in the haunches and groins of mankind. In this crag more there growth a herb very pleasant and delicious for sallads, but if it be taken up and planted elsewhere, it either groweth not, or utterly loses its virtues.

“There was some time a stone found here, much like to a water sponge or pumice, hollow on the one side, and of such a nature, that if any salt water had been poured thereunto, and suffered to run through, it would forthwith lose the natural saltness, and become very fresh and pleasant unto the mouth and taste. We hear in these days that this stone is to be seen in Fast Castle, whither it was brought after it had passed many hands for the trial of this matter.”—See Holinshed’s Chron. vol. i. introd.

This remarkable bird is also a native of the Bass, and commonly goes by the name of the Tommy Nora. It is found, however, in greater plenty on the isle of Craig Leith, near North Berwick, where it takes up its abode in the rabbit burrows. When sailing round the rock on the summer evenings, the bird is heard to make a mournful noise, like a person crying Ah! ha! Its voice has been compared to a dumb person attempting to speak, or to the hum of a large spinning-wheel. This humming sound had a very pleasant effect, when, from the top of the Bass, we looked 93down on the myriads below, and heard it mingled with the chattering of the guillimot or skout, and the screaming of the sea-gulls.

The puffin is most celebrated for its bill, which is large and flat, with its edge upwards, partly ash-coloured and partly red, of a triangular shape, not unlike the coulter of a plough, hence the bird gets the name of Coulterneb. The Kamtschadales and Kuriles decorate their necks with the bill, which the priest puts on with an appropriate ceremony. While in possession of this amulet, they consider good fortune will attend them.

The Bass was an ancient possession of the family of Lauder, who sprung originally from Lauder of that ilk, or Lauder Tower.—Nisbet’s Heraldry, vol. i. p. 344. According to Henry the Minstrel, Robert Lauder accompanied Wallace in many of his exploits. This family continued in a lineal descent till the reign of Charles I., when it merged into that of Lauder of Beilmouth. In the aisle of the lairds of the Bass, in the old church of North Berwick, a tombstone bears the following inscription, in Latin Saxon characters:—“Here lies the good Robert Lauder, the great laird of Congalton and Bass, who died May 1311.”

The Bass sheltered James, the infant heir of Robert III., in 1405, when it was judged expedient to send the young prince to France, to secure him against the dark intentions of the Duke of Albany. Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, was appointed chief attendant 94in this voyage, and a ship was ordered to the isle of Bass to receive the young prince; but they had only proceeded to Flamborough-head, when they were captured by the English. Nineteen years elapsed before James saw the end of his captivity. While confined in Windsor Castle he wrote his poem of the King’s Quair.

The Bass was the last place that held out for James VII. in Great Britain. It was defended by a gallant officer, David, third son of James Blair of Ardblair, who afterwards went to France to his royal master, where he died.—See Douglas’ Baronage, p. 191. After the Revolution a desperate race of pirates got possession of it, who had a large boat, which they hoisted down at pleasure, and committed several piracies. Their boat being at length seized or lost, and not receiving their accustomed supply of provisions from France, they were compelled to surrender.

The Bass was purchased by the Crown from Sir Alexander Ramsay, soon after the Restoration, 1671, for £4000 Sterling, and converted into a state-prison during the reign of Charles II. and his brother James, where the western Covenanters, called Cameronians, were confined for being in arms against the king.—Trans. Scot. Ant.—It now belongs to Sir H. D. Hamilton, Bart.

Amidst a multitude of prisoners the most remarkable were, 1. Alexander Peden, of prophetic memory. While Peden was prisoner in the Bass, “one sabbath morning, being about the public worship of God, a young girl, about the age of fourteen years, came to the chamber-door mocking with loud laughter; he said, Poor thing, thou laughest and mockest at the worship of God, but ere long God shall write such a sudden and surprising judgment on thee, that shall stay this laughing, &c. Very shortly after that, as she was walking on the rock, a blast of wind swept her off to the sea, where she was lost.”

95Another day, while Peden was walking on the rock, some soldiers passing by, cried, “The devil take him.” He said, “Fy, fy! poor man, thou knowest not what thou art saying; but thou shalt repent that. At which the soldier stood astonished, and went to the guard distracted, crying aloud for Mr Peden, saying, The devil would immediately come and take him away. Mr Peden came, and spoke to and prayed for the soldier, and next morning came to him again, and found him in his right mind, under deep convictions of great guilt. The guard being to change, they commanded him to his arms, but he refused; and said, He would lift no arms against Jesus Christ, his cause, and his people; I have done that too long. The governor threatened him with death to-morrow by ten o’clock. He confidently said, three times, ‘That though he should tear him in pieces, he should never lift arms that way.’ About three days after, the governor put him forth of the garrison, setting him ashore, and he, having a wife and children, took a house in East Lothian, and became a singular Christian.”—See Biog. Scoticana.

2. Thomas Hogg, minister of Kiltern.—Having contracted a severe dysentery, he petitioned the council for liberation, which Sharpe opposed, declaring that the prisoner was in a capacity to do more hurt in his elbow-chair, than twenty others travelling through the country; and if the justice of God was pursuing him, the clemency of government should not prevent it. Hogg was carried to a low, nasty dungeon, and in a short time recovered. When speaking of the arch-prelate afterwards, he jocularly said, “Commend him to me for a good physician.”—See Wodrow, vol. ii. and Hogg’s Mem. in Scots Worthies.

3. Gilbert Rule, minister at Alnwick. After the Revolution he became Principal of the University of Edinburgh, and colleague of Dr G. Campbell, professor of divinity. Dr Rule sat late at his studies, and Professor Campbell rose early, so that the candle of the one was often lighted before the other had finished his lucubrations. Their lodgings being at a little distance with opposite windows, the one went by the name of the Evening Star, and the other of the Morning Star.—Crichton’s Mem. Blackadder.

964. Alexander Gordon of Earlston, who was incarcerated in 1683. His father was slain when on his way to join the Covenanters at the battle of Bothwell Bridge. He is supposed to be the hero of the ballad written in commemoration of that fray.—See Minstrelsy Scot. Border, vol. ii. p. 89.

After the battle, Earlston narrowly escaped being taken by the ingenuity of one of his tenants, who, knowing him when he was pursued through Hamilton, made him dismount, and having hid his horse’s furniture in a dunghill, dressed him in female attire, and set him to rock the cradle. On the 22d August, 1684, he was removed from the Bass and ordered for execution; but through the intercession of his friend the Duke of Gordon, his life was spared. He was thrown into Blackness Castle, where he remained till the Revolution.—See Scots Worthies, Fountainhall, Minstrelsy, &c.

And, lastly, John Blackadder, a lineal descendant of the house 97of Tulliallan, who died in 1685, after five years’ confinement. He was buried in North Berwick church-yard, where a handsome tombstone, with a suitable epitaph, has been erected to his memory. His Memoirs, by Crichton, have lately been published.

Tantallon castle stands about two miles and a half east from North Berwick, on a high rock, overlooking the sea, which surrounds it on three sides. The greater part of the building remains in a ruinous state. The only approach is from the west, which was defended by batteries. It is said to have been built by the Douglases, when the overgrown power of the earls of Dunbar had awakened their jealousy.

The following curious etymology of the place is noticed in Blaeu’s Atlas, vol. i. p. 41. Two superintendents of the building, called Thomas and Allan, got permission from the lord of the castle to inscribe their names on a prominent part of the walls in Latin, which stood Tom et Allan: hence the country people called it the castle of Tam ’t Allan.

In 1528 this castle was held for some time against James V. The particulars of the siege may be found in Lindsay of Pitscottie’s Chronicle of Scotland.

John Rolland, author of a pedantic poem called the Seven Sages, resided here about 1544 or 1547. The time and place of composition are thus mentioned in the Epilogue:—

98During the protectorate of Cromwell, General Monk was detached with three regiments of horse and foot to reduce Tantallon. As the garrison held out, he caused the mortar-pieces to play for forty-eight hours; but these did little execution, till six battering guns being planted, they were so well managed, that the governor was compelled to submit. It was on the high ground, south from St Baldred’s well, where it is said the artillery was planted.

The following letter of General Monk is preserved in the burgh archives of North Berwick, which, on account of the singularity of its style, is worthy of being transcribed:—

“Gentlemen,—Having a call from God and his people to march into England to assert and maintain the liberty and being of Parliament, our antient constitution, and therein the freedom and rights of the people of these three Nations from Arbitrary and Tyrannical usurpations uppon their considering persons and Estates, and for a Godly ministry, I do therefore expect from you, the Magistrates of the Burgh of North Berwick, That you do preserve the peace of Comonweal in y^r Burgh, and I hereby authorize you to Suppress all Tumults, stirring and unlawful assemblies, and that you hold no correspondency with any of Charles Stewart’s party, or his Adherents, but apprehend any such as shall make any disturbance, and send them to the next Garrison, and do further desire you to assert, countenance, and encourage the Godly ministry, and all that truely fear God in the Land, and that you continue faithful to owne and assert the interest of the Parliamentary Government in y^r several places and stations. I hope my absence will be very short. But I do assure you that I shall procure from the Parliament whatever may be for the good Government and relief of this Nation, and doubt not but to obtain abatements in your Assess and other public burthens, according to the proportion of England; and what further services I may be able I shall not be wanting in, what may promote the happiness and peace 99of this afflicted people. I shall not trouble you further but beg y^r prayers, and desire you to assure y^rselves that I am

Edinburgh, 15th November, 1659.

“I desire that what is behind of the four months of the twelve months Assess may be in aread in sse against it be called for by the twelfth of December next.

I desire you to send me word to Berwick under your hands, how far you will comply with my desires.”

About half a mile south west from Tantallon, a fountain well bears the name of the Saint.

The parish of Whitekirk was anciently called Hamer, which in Saxon signifies the greater Ham; and may have obtained this appellation in contradistinction to Aldham. The church and manor of Hamer were granted during the twelfth century to the Monks of Holyrood-house. This Church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and from the whiteness of its appearance was called Whitekirk. During the seventeenth century, the parish was augmented by the annexation of Aldham; and in 1761 it was farther augmented by the annexation of the adjoining parish of Tyningham.—Chalmers’ Cal. vol. ii. p. 547.

100Hither many pilgrimages were made. It was under pretence of a pious expedition to Whitekirk, in order to perform a vow which she had made for the safety of her son, that the Queen-mother cozened Crichton, the Chancellor, and carried off James II. in a chest to Stirling.—Hist. Culdees, p. 188. Tradition says, that Whitekirk was of old a celebrated place for the fattening of barren wives, who generally returned home (in one sense,) “as women wish to be who love their lords.” Immediately behind the church is a large house, now converted into a granary, where the unfortunate Queen Mary is said to have passed two nights.

On the hill above Whitekirk, a cairn of stones marks the grave of two persons who were slain at a conventicle, by a party from the Bass. This was probably the meeting held here in May 1678, which was dispersed by Charles Maitland, deputy-governor, when James Learmont and his brother, with one Temple, (from Dunbar,) were pannelled, 11th September 1678, for the murder of John Hay, who came with the King’s forces.

To the sylvan taste of Helen, sixth Countess of Haddington, East Lothian is indebted for some of the finest plantations in Scotland. The horticulturist may consult “Treatise on the manner of raising Forest Trees,” Edin. 1761, or Douglas’ Peerage, vol. i. p. 683, for an interesting letter, dated Tyningham, Dec. 22, 1733, from Thomas, sixth Earl of Haddington, to his grandson, giving a history of the progress of these plantations, which arose under the cultivated taste of his lady.

This excellent person was only daughter to John Hope of Hopetoun, and sister to Charles, first Earl of Hopetoun. She died at Edinburgh in 1768, in her 91st year.