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Letters from James Earl of Perth
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 February 2010
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page 1 note * To this sister (Lady Anna Drummond, Countess of Errol, to whom these letters are addressed,) the Chancellor sent for safe keeping some heir-looms of rare value, which, with a list of them, are still preserved at Drummond Castle. They are described as a basin and ewer, two chalices, and a salt-cellar, presented to the chief of her race by Annabella Drummond, Queen of Robert III. and mother of James I. Also a pearl necklace, of pearls from the river Tay, worn by Lady Anne Gordon, who married a Drummond, and whose portrait remains, painted with this remarkable native ornament round her neck.—Ed.
page 1 note † Blair Drummond, his factor, and ancestor of the present family of that ilk.—Ed.
page 2 note * Drummond Castle, in Perthshire, the residence of the Chiefs of the Clan Drummond ; and now the seat of Lord and Lady Willoughby de Eresby ; the latter of whom is the representative of that faithful and gallant race.—Ed.
page 2 note † A small village at the foot of the Ochell chain of mountains.—Ed.
page 5 note * The Earl of Mar died in the following year. He had disapproved of the measures of King James and gone abroad ; but after his return and adherence to King William, he joined the disaffected party, and was arrested and confined in Edinburgh, where he died at the early age of thirty-nine.—Ed.
page 6 note * A gloomy enough precinct of this beautifully situated and picturesque fortress.—Ed.
page 6 note † Comrie, as is customary in Scotland, so called after the name of his estate. It is now the property of Sir David Dundas ; and, such is the mutability of fortune, the lineal representative of this old family is now landlord of the inn of the village of Comrie, (so famous in modern science for its earthquakes,) where he shows the claymore with which his ancestor fought at Culloden as standard-bearer to the Duke of Perth ; who, in vain, gave the rallying shout of “ Claymore!” to the Macdonalds on the left wing, to urge them into the charge, and told them it was in their power to make that wing the right (their previous accustomed post of honour) for ever after, and he himself would adopt their name if they were victorious. Nothing could move the sullen clan from their resentment at the unwise change of disposition ; they remained passive, and the battle was lost.—Ed.
page 7 note * John Earl of Melfort, who had effected his escape to France and joined the King there. Of him and his descendants, more elsewhere.—Ed.
page 7 note † The Earl of Melfort: see the preceding note.—Ed.
page 8 note * Drummond Castle.—Ed.
* Titus Oates and his fellow conspirator, whose doings seem to have haunted the Chancellor, as he alludes to them several times in the course of these letters.—Ed.
page 13 note * Fetteresso, the principal seat of the Earl Marischall, where twenty years later, in 1715, the Chevalier was met by that nobleman, the Earl of Mar, and a following of thirty other nobles, chiefs of clans, and highland gentlemen, from their head quarters at Perth, when he reached Scotland after the battles of Sheriffmuir and Preston.—Ed.
page 13 note † Utrecht.
page 14 note * Lady Katharine Carnegie, younger daughter of James second Earl o Southesk, and widow of Gilbert tenth Earl of Erroll, who died in 1674.— ED.
page 14 note † The son of Blair Drummond. See page 1.—Ed.
page 14 note ‡ George fourth Earl of Wintoun, who succeeded his father in 1650. He had served in a military capacity at Bothwell-brig and other memorable occasions ; and was with James Duke of York when his ship was lost, on her voyage to Scotland, in May 1682. He died in 1704, and his son George forfeited the peerage for his share in the rebellion in 1715. —Ed.
page 14 note § John Paterson, translated from the see of Edinburgh to that of Glasgow in 1687, and deprived at the Revolution.—Ed.
page 15 note * Her second son, the Hon. James Hay.—Ed.
page 15 note † Peter Bayle, the author of the celebrated Biographical, Historical, and Critical Dictionary which bears his name. He was at this period in his prime of life, about fortysix years of age, and died in 1706.—Ed.
page 15 note ‡ The writer's son-in-law, William, eldest son of the Earl Marischall. (See p. 23.)—Ed.
page 16 note * Aerschot, a town in South Brabant, nine miles from Louvaine.—Ed.
page 17 note * An evening service, so called from the Roman Catholic hymn sung before the host, “ O Salutaris Hoslia ! ”—Ed.
page 18 note * The death of the Bishop of Liege, as Rapin notices, afforded the French a good opportunity for embroiling the affairs of the confederates. Their strong effort was to get the Cardinal of Bouillon advanced to the principality, as a prelude to forcing their offered terms of peace upon the Allies. The Chapter of Liege, however, chose the Elector of Cologne, and the rest the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, to be their prince and bishop. This double election was likely to create much trouble, for the Grand Master being so nearly related to the Emperor, and the Elector, his competitor, brother to the Elector of Bavaria, whose interest was supported by his Britannic Majesty and the States of Holland, a clash of great interests was imminent. The Grand Master fortunately died before the decision of the see of Rome, could be received, and the Electon of Cologne succeeded soon after, peacefully, to the bishopric and principality.—Ed.
page 18 note † The eldest son of the Earl and Countess of Erroll.—Ed.
page 18 note ‡ Charles the 2nd Earl, affectionately called the Jesuite, but who nevertheless abjured “ Papestry,” and in 1698 was allowed to take his place in Parliament, declaring he had joined the true Protestant communion!—Ed.
page 19 note * John 3d Earl of Wigton married Lady Jane Drummond, daughter of the second Earl of Perth. Their youngest son was named Charles; but the Charles above-mentioned is apparently his nephew, the younger son of William 5th Earl of Wigton, and who succeeded his brother John, as seventh Earl, in 1744
page 17 note † Isaac Papin, some time a minister of the Church of England, but reconciled to that of Rome, and the author of several shrewd and able polemical treatises, and precisely such works as the writer, a similar convert from Protestantism, would be likely to recommend to his sister, for whose change of faith he was earnest and urgent. In 1687 Papin had published, “ Of the Toleration of the Protestants, and of the Authority of the Church,” of which there was a new edition in 1692.—Ed.
* Where Prince Lewis of Baden, in August, 1691, attacked and routed the Turks.—Ed.
page 23 note * George eighth Earl Marischal, dying in 1694, was succeeded by his son William, who had married Lady Mary Drummond, eldest daughter of the Earl of Perth.—Ed.
page 23 note † This legend is pleasantly recited in Mr. Dudley Costello's late publication on the Meuse.—Ed.
page 24 note * Avised, full of life. Li vis a pou d'amis, li more n'en a nus. Old Proverb.—Ed.
page 24 note † A kind of furmity.—Ed.
page 24 note ‡ Tanaceti Succus (says good old Minshew, folio 1617,) cum ouolútei in patella frixus cum butyro, lumbricis aduersatur,
fried with butter and the yolkes of egges in a panne, is good to eat against worme in the belly.—Ed.
page 26 note * Colin, third Earl of Balcarres, the author of a memoir on the Revolution of 1688, and afterwards engaged in the Rebellion of 1715, from the consequences of which he was saved by the interest of his friend the Duke of Marlborough.—Ed.
page 26 note † See page 16.
page 28 note * The battle of Landen, where King William braved the French attack, 29th July, 1693, and was defeated with the loss of 7,000 men ; but so crippled the enemy as to preclude the idea of pursuit.—Ed.
page 31 note * An order better known as that of Prémontré, from its local cradle in France, founded by St. Norbert, who died bishop of Magdeburg in 1134. The rule is that of the Augustinian Canons regular, but was rendered more strict by St. Norbert, and made applicable to ascetics of both sexes.—Ed.
page 32 note * John Earl of Melfort, the second son of James the third Earl of Perth, like his elder brother the Chancellor, adhered zealously to James II. He was Deputy Governor of Edinburgh Castle, 1680, and Secretary of State, 1684. He was created Viscount Melfort in Argyllshire, (a part of the Duke of Argyll's forfeited estate,) and Lord Drummond, of Gilestoun, in 1685 ; and in 1686 the higher honours were conferred upon him of Earl of Melfort, Viscount of Forth, and Lord Drummond of Riceartoun. The patent, dated August 12th, conveys the peerage to the heirs male of his second marriage, passing over his two sons by his first wife of the family of Lundin, who were stanch Protestants, whereas the Earl was a bigoted convert to the Romish faith. This disposition was the cause of conflicting claims. James Drummond, of Lundin, the grandson of the first marriage, assumed the title of Earl of Perth in 1766, and his son James, the father of the present Lady Willoughby de Eresby, was created a British peer by the title of Lord Perth in 1797, which dignity became extinct on his death in 1809. The second family, to whom Lord Melfort bequeathed his estates, as Roman Catholics, were the children of Euphemia Wallace, daughter of Sir Thomas Wallace of Craigie, a Lord of Session. The Lady was countenanced by Louis XIV., and kept a fashionable faro-table in Paris, where she lived to be ninety years old. Lord Melfort accompanied King James to Ireland, and in 1690 was created Duke of Melfort. He was attainted and outlawed in 1694–5, and died at St. Germain's in 1714. He was one of the handsomest men of his time, and his dancing was considered the finest which the Court could exhibit: and dancing in these days was esteemed a great accomplishment. His heir, John Duke of Melfort, died in 1752, and was succeeded by a son, Thomas, whose son Charles-Edward (we believe) claimed the Perth title about forty years ago, which led to a law-suit with his brother Maurice, who disputed his right on the ground of birth before marriage.—Ed.
page 34 note * Heir apparent of the first Earl of Aberdeen.—Ed.
page 35 note * The Earl of Melfort.—Ed.
page 35 note † Lady Machany was the wife of Sir John Drummond of Machany, brother to Lillias Countess of Perth and Tullibardine (the writer's second wife), namely, Margaret, daughter of Sir William Stewart of Innemytie, second son of Sir William Stewart of Grandtully. (Wood's Douglas, ii. 553.)—Ed.
page 36 note * Lady Betty was the wife of John master of Tarbat, afterwards second Earl of Cromarty. She was the only daughter of Charles Gordon, first Earl of Aboyne.—Ed.
page 37 note * The writer's daughter Lady Anne Drummond, who was resident with her aunt the Countess of Erroll.—Ed.
page 38 note * Bombarded by the English fleet under Lord Berkeley, July 12th, and dreadfully shattered by 1100 bombs and, carcases. The place was in ruins, and the inhabitants, as well as two regiments of Bretagne sent to aid them, fled in such confusion, that had it been known the assailants might have landed and possessed or sacked it.—Ed.
page 40 note * This legend has been very popular at Bruxelles ever since the 15th century, and is we believe still, or was till very lately, commemorated there at certain epochs; on which occasions the nave of the church of St. Gudule is richly decorated with tapestry representing the principal events of the legend. A history of the miraculous hostie was published in 1605 by a canon of St. Gudule, with engravings by Adrian Collaert, in which it is stated that the miracle took place in the year 1373, at Bruxelles. But, according to a MS. recently found in Trin. Coll. Dublin, temp. Edw. IV. containing a curious Miracle-play, founded on this legend, and entitled the play of the Blessed Sacrament, or the conversion of Sir Jonathas the Jew, “ the miracle was wrought in the forest of Arragon, in the famous city of Araclea, in the year of our Lord God, 1461.”—Ed.
page 40 note † Lady Mary Campbell, daughter of Archibald seventh Earl of Argyll by his second wife Anne, daughter of Sir William Cornwallis, of Brome, co. Suffolk, was the second wife of James second Lord Rollo. Her sisters, the four religieuses above mentioned, are not noticed in Douglas's Peerage of Scotland. Her brother of the whole blood, James Campbell, was created Earl of Irvine.—Ed.
page 41 note * Lord Drummond : see p. 47.—Ed.
page 42 note * Trek-schuyt.—Ed.
page 42 note † Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Henry sixth Duke of Norfolk, married in Oct. 1676 to George first Duke of Gordon, the brother of the Countess of Perth. Her Grace retiring to a convent in Flanders, the Duke issued a process of adherence, 1697. She died in 1732, and was buried in Elgin cathedral. (Wood's Douglas.)—Ed.
page 43 note * Lady Lucy Herbert was a cousin-german of the ladies Catharine and Anna Howard by their mothers, who were both daughters of Edward Somerset, Marquess of Worcester. William Earl of Powis, created a Duke by James II. after his abdication, married the Lady Elizabeth Somerset, and the Duke of Norfolk married the Lady Anne Somerset.—Ed.
page 42 note † See the Abbé Mann's account of the English monasteries on the Continent, in the Archæologia, vol. xiii.—Ed.
page 44 note * The Duke of Norfolk died in Arundel-street, Westminster, Jan. 16,1683–4, and was buried at Arundel, in Sussex.—Ed.
page 44 note † George Cassander was with Erasmus and Melancthon one of the most amiable and reasonable men of his day. He was assailed by both parties for wishing to unite them in Christian charity and mutual forbearance. His book De officio viri pii in hoc dissidio religionis brought Calvin about his ears, while Hessels attacked him in flank and Cenalis in the rear. He died in 1566.—Ed.
page 45 note * The ferry from Leith to Kinghorn, in Fifeshire.—Ed.
page 45 note † A Councillor.—Ed.
page 47 note * John Ker, fourth son of William second Earl of Roxburghe, succeeded his cousin as Lord Bellenden in 1671, and died in 1707. His spouse was Mary Countess dowager of Dalhousie, second daughter of Henry Moore, first Earl of Drogheda. The Earl of Perth seems to have confused this lady with Jean widow of the celebrated John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, killed at the battle of Killicranky in 1689; and who, having married secondly William Livingston, third Viscount of Kilsyth, also acquired that title. She was the third daughter of William Lord Cochrane, eldest son of William first Earl of Dundonald.—Ed.
page 47 note † James Lord Drummond, the writer's son, by his first wife.—Ed.
page 49 note * The Countess Marischall.—Ed.
page 49 note † Probably James Drummond, Bishop of Brechin, who died in 1695.—Ed.
page 49 note ‡ See Note, page 20.
page 50 note * The Earl of Melfort.
page 50 note † See note in p. 33.
page 50 note ‡ At Wurtzburg: see p. 91.
page 54 note * Not a bad hint for many tourists, who have published a thousand volumes since this wholesome truth was penned.—Ed.
page 54 note † The Spanish bahul is a covering of skin over a vessel, and we presume applied to this head covering. It also occurs in the Bas Breton.—Ed.
page 56 note * The author doubtless refers to a bridge on the Don in Aberdeenshire, which has a celebrated and picturesque ancient arch.—Ed.
page 56 note † A Voyage through Italy ; with the Characters of the People, and a Description of the Chief Towns. By Richard Lassels. Paris, 1670, and London, in two parts, 8vo. 1670, 1686, 1689.—Ed.
page 57 note * A New Voyage in Italy, by Francois Maximilian Misson, a work of which there were several English editions.—Ed.
page 57 note † Innocent XII.: see note in p. 79.
page 57 note ‡ Queen Mary, whose royal title is not acknowledged by the Chancellor of James II. She died 28 Dec. 1694, aged 33.
page 57 note § Id est, delayed ; and one might think no very great consolation, with eternity before them.—Ed.
page 58 note * A village near Venice on the island called San Christoforo di Murano, and the great cemetery of the city.—Ed.
page 59 note * Silvestro Valiere, elected in 1694 ; died 5 July, 1700. His wife, Elizabeth Quirini, was also crowned as Duchess in 1694, her last predecessor in that dignity having been Maria Grimani, in 1595. She died in 1709, aged 80.—Ed.
page 59 note † Maximilian-William, third son of Ernest Augustus Duke of Hanover, and brother to King George the First, deserted the Protestant faith for the church of Rome, became a Field Marshal in the Imperial service, and died at Vienna in 1726.—Ed.
page 59 note ‡ James Seton, fourth Earl of Dunfermline, married Lady Jean Gordon, third daughter of Lewis third Marquess of Huntly, and sister to George first Duke of Gordon and to the Countess of Perth. This passage affords the information which is deficient elsewhere, by determining which of the Earl of Perth's three wives was the lady mentioned in these letters: for the dates of his second and third marriages are not recorded. His third wife was Lady Mary, second daughter of Lewis third Marquess of Huntly, and widow of Adam Urquhart of Meldrum, who died in 1684. She died at St. Germain's, in March 1726, aged 80.—Ed.
page 60 note * A touching expression from a “ banished Lord.”—Ed.
page 60 note † John FitzGerald 18th Earl of Kildare married first Mary O'Brien, eldest daughter of Henry Ibrachan (son of Henry Earl of Thomond) by Lady Catharine Stuart, daughter of George Lord d'Aubigny, and afterwards the wife of Sir Joseph Williamson.—Ed.
page 60 note ‡ Cardinal Barbarigo, of a noble Venetian family, born in 1626; died in 1697.—Ed.
page 61 note * A saint of great austerity, who retired into the great desert of Syria, and endured the most incredible mortifications.—Ed.
page 62 note * The person meant is no doubt Philip Earl of Arundel, who died at Padua, Oct. 4, 1646. His body was brought to England, and buried at Arundel. He was created Earl of Norfolk in 1644 ; but not restored to the dukedom.—Ed.
page 63 note * This story must be mistaken, if not entirely fictitious, as there was no knight of the garter of the Obizzi family, and the person who really took David King of Scots prisoner is recorded to have been John Copland, of Northumberland. (See Lingard's History of England.)—Ed.
page 65 note * The Jews' quarter.—Ed.
page 65 note † Marsigliana, a kind of Venetian ship. Allieri Dict,—Ed.
page 65 note ‡ Peotta, a gondola with ten oars.—Ed.
page 66 note * A branch of the Pallavicini family.—Ed.
page 66 note † Called however the last, Finale, from being the last on the eastern side of the dominions of Modena,—ED,
page 67 note * An English quart,—Ed.
page 68 note * So called from their styling themselves Servi di Maria, or particular devotees of the Virgin. Fra Paulo belonged, to this order.—Ed.
page 69 note * John Dominic Casaini, the famous astronomer, the first resident in the Royal observatory of Paris; who discovered four satellites of Saturn, and died in 1712.—Ed.
page 69 note † This is the well known Torre degli Asinelli, celebrated in Dante's Divina Commedia.—Ed.
page 70 note * Of a noble and ancient family in Genoa ; made Cardinal by Pope Innocent XI. in 1686.—Ed.
page 70 note † The question of the identity of this river, with its famous Cæsarian quotation, Jacta est alea, is, notwithstanding this inscription, and the “Voiturino's” conviction, not quite established,—Ed.
page 71 note * Erected in honour of Augustus, who planted colony there.—Ed.
page 72 note * The Santissima casa, the house of the Virgin Mary in Nazareth, conveyed by angels to Tersato in Dalmatia, and thence, in 1294, to Loretto. It is strange, considering his usual credulity, that the author should doubt this miracle.—Ed.
page 77 note * A beautiful waterfall in Perthshire, and one of the charming sights of the pastoral Strathcrne, environed by its Highland mountains.—Ed.
page 78 note * The Countess Marischall perhaps gave birth this year to her eldest daughter Mary, afterwards Countess of Wigtoun. It was on the exact anniversary of this letter, the 11th June 1696, that her second son James was born, afterwards distinguished as the Marshal Keith in the service of the great Frederick of Prussia, and who, after having fought at Sheriffmuir in 1715, died gloriously at the battle of Hochkirchen in 1758. His elder brother George the tenth Earl Marischall, also, after the Fifteen, entered the Prussian service ; was Ambassador-Extraordinary both to the Courts of France and Spain ; was made a Knight of the Black Eagle, and Governor of the State of Neufchatel, which produced him a sufficient revenue in his old age. Rousseau mentions him with encomiums, and relates some entertaining anecdotes of his eccentricity. He was pardoned by the English government, and visited this country in 1760. He returned to Berlin, and died in 1778. The Lady Willoughby de Eresby is, through her mother (the sister of Admiral Lord Keith) descended fom the Countess of Wigtoun, mentioned at the beginning of this note, and so from the writer of the present correspondence, as well as in the paternal line from his brother the Earl of Melfort.—Ed.
page 79 note * The Hon. James Hay, second son of the Countess of Erroll.—Ed.
page 79 note † Innocent XII. (Antonio Pignatelli) according to Moreri, of a very noble family of Naples, born in 1615, elected Pope in 1691, and conducting himself in that elevated station as a true Father of the Church, without predilections or partialities, and knowing only the Poor as his relations. He died, blessed by all, in 1700.—Ed.
page 79 note ‡ Toussaint de Forbin de Janson, Bishop of Marseilles and afterwards of Beauvais, made a Cardinal in 1690, and Great Almoner of France in 1706. He was distinguished for his State services in the reign of Louis XIV. and died in 1713.—Ed.
page 80 note * i. e. a rosary, or beads.—Ed.
page 80 note * Haquenay, a white horse.—Ed.
page 83 note * Admiral Edward Russell, Earl of Orford, who negotiated with the Stadtholder to dethrone James II.—Ed.
page 80 note * i. e. a rosary, or beads.—Ed.
page 80 note * Haquenay, a white horse.—Ed.
page 83 note * Admiral Edward Russell, Earl of Orford, who negotiated with the Stadtholder to dethrone James II.—Ed.
page 86 note * Pietro Ottoboni, born 15 July 1667, was made a Cardinal on the 7th of November 1689, by Pope Alexander VIII. his grand-uncle, being only 23 years old. He Was Vice-Chancellor of the Church and Secretary of State. Louis XIV. appointed him Protector of the affairs of France, and gave him in 1713 the abbeys of Marchiennes and Montierander. and in 1716 also that of St. Paul of Verdun.—Ed.
page 86 note † The famous Bolognese musician and composer, whose solos ars the standard exercises for young violinists to the present time.—Ed.
page 87 note * The only island visible from the spot is the small one off the promontory of Circe at Terracina,—Ed.
page 89 note * i. e. No news is good news.—Ed.
page 90 note * Lady Dundee has been already noticed in p. 47. Of the circumstances of her death a tradition only is recorded, as follows: “ In 1795 a leaden coffin in the church of Kilsyth was opened, containing the bodies of a lady, supposed to be the first wife of Lord Kilsyth, and his infant son, in perfect preservation. The lady bore evident marks of a violent death, and it is said was killed by the fall of a house in Holland.” Douglas's Peerage of Scotland, by Wood, ii. 38.—Ed.
page 90 note * John William Joseph Duke of Newburg, and Elector Palatine.—Ed.
page 91 note * Joseph-Ferdinand, born at Vienna in 1692, and therefore only three years old at this date. His mother was the Archduchess Mary Antonia, and he was regarded as heir presumptive of Spain ; but he died at Brussels in 1699.—Ed.
page 91 note † Eleonora-Mary, daughter of the Emperor Ferdinand III., was married first to Michael, King of Poland, who died in 1673 ; and secondly to Charles-Leopold Duke of Lorraine. By the latter she had issue the sons mentioned by the Earl of Perth, of whom Leopold was afterwards Duke of Lorraine, and Charles Archbishop of Triers.—Ed.
page 91 note ‡ Francis Taaffe, third Earl of Carlingford, succeeded to that dignity on the death of his brother Nicholas at the battle of the Boyne in 1690. He had been educated at Olmutz, in Germany, where having greatly distinguished himself he was selected to superintend the education of the children of the Duke of Lorraine. He was made a Chamberlain and Marshal of the Empire, and knight of the Golden Fleece. He died in 1704.—Ed.
page 94 note * A conspicuous hill near Drummond Castle ; a spur of the great Grampian chain on the southern bank of the Earn.—Ed.
page 94 note † Lost in the MS.—Ed.
page 97 note * In Perthshire, and not far from Drummond Castle. Though now an insignificant place, it was probably dignified by being one of the few towns in Scotland where royal money was minted in ancient times.
page 98 note * Recesses, or closets.—Ed.
* Signore Sesti; see p, 107.
* From the close of this letter, and an expression at the close of the preceding, it is probable that the Earl was contemplating to join the court of his exiled Master, whence correspondence to England would be attended with increased difficulty.—Ed.