PART I.

HARDYKNUTE.] This name is of Danish extract, and signifies Canute the strong. Hardy in the original implies strong, not valiant; and though used in the latter sense by the English, yet the Scots still take it in its first acceptation. ‘The names in Cunningham,’ says Sir David Dalrymple, ‘are all Saxon, as is the name of the country itself.’ An­nals of Scotland, an. 1160, note. The Danish and Saxon are both derived from the old Gothic, and were so similar, that a person of the one nation might understand one of the other speaking in his proper tongue. From the names and whole tenor of [Page 116]this poem, I am inclined to think the chief scene is laid in Cunninghamshire; where likewise the battle of Largs, supposed to be that so nobly described in the first part, was fought.

Ver. 5. Britons.] This was the common name which the Scots gave the English anciently, as may be observed in their old poets; and particularly Blind Harry, whose testimony indeed can only be relied on, as to the common language and manners of his time; his Life of Wallace being a tissue of the most absurd fa­bles ever mingled.

V. 9. Hie on a bill, &c.] This necessary caution in those times, when strength was the only protection from violence, is well painted by a contemporary French bard:

V. 12. Knicht.] These knights were only military officers attending the earls, barons, &c. as appears from the histories of the middle ages. See Selden, Tit. Hon. P. II. c. 5. The name is of Saxon origin, and of remote antiquity, as is proved by the following fragment of a poem on the Spanish expedition of Charles the Great, written at that period: [Page 117]

The oath which the ancient knights of Scotland gave at their investiture is preserved in a letter of Drummond of Hawthornden to Ben Jonson, and is as follows:

A curious account of the rise and progress of knight­hood, and its influence on society, may be found in a learned and ingenious work lately published by Dr. Stuart, intitled, A view of Society in Europe, or Enquiries concerning the History of Law, Government, and Manners.

V. 16. Emergard.] In the common copies it is Elenor, and indeed in all the recitals I have heard; but in a late edition published with other Scotish songs at Edinburgh, 1776, it is rightly read as here. Emergard, or Ermengarde, was daughter of the Viscount of Beau­mont, [Page 119]and wife of William the Lyon. She died in 1233 As the name was uncommon, and of difficult pronun­ciation, the rehearsers seem to have altered it to Elenor, which has none of these defects.

The battle of Largs, supposed to be that meant in this poem, was fought on the first of August 1263, so that queen Emergard was dead thirty years before; yet this can amount to no error in chronology, as the verses evidently imply that the lady of Hardyknute had no equal in the kingdom for beauty save the queen in the prime of the youth and beauty of both, which might well be forty years, or more, before the period of action in the poem.

V. 25. Fairly.] This name seems likewise of Saxon origin. There is a small island and a rivulet in Cun­ningham still called Fairly isle and Fairly Burn.

V. 43. Twenty thousand glittering speirs, &c.] This agrees with Buchanan's account, Acho—viginti millia militum exposuit. lib. 7. Torfaeus asserts this number of the Norwegians was left dead on the field; but upon what authority I know not, as the ancient relations of the battle of Largs support not his testimony. See Johnstone's Translation of Haco's Expedition to Scotland in the year 1263, from the Plateyan and Frisian MSS. printed at Copenhagen 1782.

V. 49. Page] The Pages in the periods of chi­valry were of honourable account. The young war­riers [Page 120]were first denominated pages, then valets, or damei­seaux, from which degree they reached that of ecuyer, or squire, and from this that of knight. See Du Cange, voc. Valeti, & Domicellus. St. Palaye, Mem. sur l'anc. Cheval. P. I.

V. 61. He has tane a horn; &c.] The horn, or bugil, was anciently used by the Scots instead of the trumpet. They were sometimes richly ornamented, as appears from Lindsay's description of that of Sir Robert Coch­ran. ‘The horn he wore was adorned with jewels and precious stones, and tipped with fine gold at both ends. Hist. of Scotland, J. III.’

V. 88. Westmoreland's ferce heir.] Heir, in the old Scotish acceptation, seems derived from the Latin he­rus, and signifies not apparent successor, but present lord. As in the following lines of Blind Harry:

And in this of Dunbar, ‘Befoir Mahoun the heir of hell.’

V. 107—112.] This minute description might lead us to suspect, that a female hand had some part in this composition. But, before our minstrel, Homer has shewn [Page 121]himself an adept in the lady's dress. To the curious remarks on the variation of the British habit, given us by Mr. Walpole, in his Anecdotes of Painting, and Mr. Granger, in his Biographical History, might be added the follow­ing notice from a reverend minister of the church of Scotland. ‘About 1698 the women got a custome of wearing few garments: I myselfe have seen the young brisk ladies walking on the streets with masks on their faces, and with one onlie thin petticoat and their smoak; so thin that one would make a conscience of sweiring they were not naked.’ Miscellanies, by Mr. John Bell, minister at Gladsmuir, MS. pen. Edit. title Apparel.

V. 112. Save that of Fairly fair.] Working at the needle, &c. was reckoned an honourable employment by the greatest ladies of those times. Margaret, the queen of Malcolm III. as we learn from her life written by Turgot her confessor, employed the leisure hours of her ladies in this manner. See Lord Hales' Annals of Scotland, an. 1093.

V. 121. Sir Knicht.] ‘The addition Sir to the names of knights was in use before the age of Ed­ward I. and is from Sire, which in old French signifies Seignieur or Lord. Though applicable to all knights it served properly to distinguish those of the order who were not barons. Dr. Stuart, View of Society, &c. Notes on sect. 4. chap. ii. p. 269.’

[Page 122]V. 123—128. The custom of the ladies tending the wounded knights was common in those romantic ages. Lydgate, whose story is ancient, but whose man­ners are those of his own times, has an instance in The Story of Thebes, part ii. Speaking of the daughter of Ly­curgus and Tideus;

And in an excellent piece of old English poetry, styled Sir Cauline, published by Dr. Percy in the first volume of his Reliques, when the king is informed that knight is sick, he says,

[Page 123]V. 145—152.] This stanza is now first printed. It is surprising it's omission was not marked in the frag­ment formerly published, as without it the circum­stance of the knight's complaint is altogether foreign and vague. The loss was attempted to be glossed over by many variations of the preceding four lines, but the defect was palpable to the most inattentive peruser.

V. 154. Lord Chattan.] This is a very ancient and honourable Scottish surname. Some genealogists derive them from the Chatti, an ancient German tribe; but others, with more probability, from the Gilchattan of Ireland. St. Chattan was one of the first Scotish confessors, to whom was dedicated the priory of Ard­chattan in Lorn, founded in 1230, and some others through the kingdom. The chief of the clan Chattan dying in the reign of David I. without male issue, the clan assumed the ancestor of the M'Phersons for su­perior, by which means the name appears to have been lost in that of M'Pherson. See Buchanan's Brief Enquiry into the Genealogy and Present State of Ancient Scottish Surnames. Glasgow, 1723, 4 to, p. 67.

We however find the Clan Chattan mentioned as late as 1590 in The History of the Feuds and Conflicts of the Clans, published from a MS. of the reign of James VI. Glasgow, 1764; where a Macintosh is called their chief.

[Page 124]V. 159.] Though we learn from Buchanan's Equiry, &c. that the clan Chattan are said to have come into Scotland long before the expulsion of the Picts, yet I do not find this pretty anecdote, which is much in the spirit of Homer, has any foundation in history. The empire of the Picts was demolished by Kenneth about four centuries before the apparent date of the events narrated in this poem.

V. 169. Mak orisons, &c.] This is perfectly in the style of knighthood. Before they entered into com­bat they solemly invoked the aid of God, their Saviour, or their mistress: religion and gallantry being the prime motives of all their adventures. Les premieres leçons qu'on leur donnoit regardoient principalement l'amour de Dieu et des dames, c'est à dire la religion et la galanterie. St. Palaye, tome i. p. 7. The poets of these times be­gan, in like manner, the description of a savage con­flict, or of their lady's graces, with religious invocation. Many examples of which appear in the Histoire des Trou­badours of L'Abbé Milot, and the Specimens of Welsh Poetry published by Mr. Evans. So blind is the untu­tored mind to the proper discrimination of it's ideas!

V. 179. Playand Pibrochs.] Of the pibroch I can­not give a better account than in the words of an ex­cellent author. ‘A pibroch is a species of tune pe­culiar, I think, to the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland. It is performed on a bagpipe, and differs totally from all other music. Its rythm is so irregu­lar, [Page 125]and its notes, especially in the quick movement, so mixed and huddled together, that a stranger finds it almost impossible to reconcile his ear to it, so as to perceive its modulation. Some of these pibrochs, being intended to represent a battle, begin with a grave mo­tion resembling a march, then gradually quicken into the onset; run off with noisy confusion, and turbu­lent rapidity, to imitate the conflict and pursuit; then swell into a few flourishes of triumphant joy; and perhaps close with the wild and slow wailings of a funeral procession. Essays by Dr. Beattie, 8vo. ed. p. 422. note.’

V. 188. Eir faes their dint mote drie.] This is substi­tuted in place of a line of consummate nonsense, which has stained all the former editions. Many such are cor­rected in this impression from comparing different re­hearsals, and still more from conjecture. When an ig­norant person is desired to repeat a ballad, and is at a loss for the original expression, he naturally supplies it with whatever absurdity first occurs to him, that will form a rime. These the Editor made not the smallest scruple to correct, as he always imagined that common sense might have its use even in emendatory criticism.

V. 203. But on his forehead, &c.] The circumstances in this description seem borrowed from those of different battles betwixt the Kings of Scotland and Norway. I find in no historian that Alexander was wounded in the battle of Largs; on the contrary, it is even doubted [Page 126]whether he was present; but in that near Nairn Mal­colm II. was wounded on the head. Rex, accepto in capite vulnere, vix a suis in propinquum nemus ablatus, ac ibi equo pofitus, mortem evasit. Buchan. lib. VI.

V. 223. Hire dames to wail your darling's fall.] This custom of employing women to mourn for the warriors who fell in battle, may be traced to the most distant antiquity. Lucilius, one of the earliest Roman poets, in a couplet preserved by Nonius, mentions this prac­tice;

Among the Northern nations it partook of their bar­barity. ‘Inter eas autem ceremonias a barbara gente acceptas fuisse et has, ut genas roderunt mulierculae, hoc est unguibus faciem dilaniarent et lessum facerent, id est sanguinem e venis mitterent, doloris testandi ergo; id quod Germani patria voce dicunt, Ein lassu thun oder baben. Elias Schedius de Diis Germ. Syng. II. c. 51.’ A similar mode of testifying their grief for the death of their chiefs, still obtains in the Highlands, as we are informed by Mr. Pennant in his amusing Tour in Scotland.

V. 225. Costly Jupe.] This was the Sagum, or mili­tary vest of the Gauls and Germans. Dr. Stuart has with curious ingenuity derived the science of Blazonry from the ornaments which were in time added to them. Ubi supra, p. 286, 287.

[Page 127]Virgil has a passage remarkably similar to this, in describing the habit of the Gauls, I think in Aeneid VIII.

V. 229. Beir Norse that gift, &c.] This has been generally misunderstood: the meaning is, Bear that gift to the King of Norway, and bid, &c.

V. 239. 245.] These vaunts are much in Homer's manner, and are finely characteristic. The obscure metaphor which conveys them illustrates a beautiful re­mark of an ancient critic, That allegory has a sublime effect when applied to threatning. [...]. Demet. Phal. de Eloc. c. 99.

V. 265. Whar lyke a fyre to hether set.] This apposite simile alludes to an ancient practice of the Scots, termed Mure burning. The progress of the flame was so quick, that many laws appear in their Acts of Parliament, pro­hibiting its being used when any corn was standing on ground adjacent to the heath intended to be burnt, though at a considerable distance from the spot where the flame was kindled.

V. 285. Sore taken he was, fey!] Fey here signifies only indeed, in fay, or, in faith: it is commonly used by the old Scotish poets in a sarcastic or ironical sense.

[Page 128]V. 305. On Norway's coast, &c.] These verses are in the finest style of Ballad poetry. They have been well imitated by a modern writer, who seems indebted, for the best strokes of his first production, to a taste for such compositions:

I cannot conclude my observations upon the descrip­tion here given of the battle, without adding, that though perhaps not the most sublime, it is the most animated and interesting to be found in any poet. It yields not to any in Ossian for lively painting, nor to any in Homer for those little anecdotes and strokes of nature, which are so deservedly admired in that mas­ter. 'Poetry and Rhetoric,' says the author of an En­quiry into the origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, ‘do not succeed in exact description so well as Painting does; their business is to affect rather by sympathy than imitation; to display rather the effect of things on the mind of the speaker, or of others, than to present a clear idea of the things themselves. This is their most extensive province, and that in which they succeed the best.’ Will he forgive me if I offer this rude Scotish Poem as an example sufficiently illustrative of this fine remark?

[Page 129]V. 321. Loud and chill blew the Westlin wind, &c.] This storm is artfully raised by the magic of Poetry to heighten the terrible, which is soon carried to a degree not surpassed in any production ancient or modern. It will recall to the reader the like artifice employed in the most sublime passage of Tasso's Gierusalemme, end of Canto 7.; and of Homer's Iliad, VIII. ver. 161. of Mr. Pope's Translation.

V. 327. Seimd now as black as moruning weid.] It was anciently the custom on any mournful event to hang the castle gates with black cloth. This is alluded to here, and more particularly mentioned in an excellent modern Ballad, entitled The Birth of St. George, which displays no mean knowledge of the manners of chivalry:

HARDYKNUTE. Part II.

I HAVE given the stanzas now added the title of a Second Part, though I had no authority from the recital. The break formerly made here by accident seemed to call for this pause to the reader.

V. 115. Penants.] These were small banners charged with the arms of the owner, and sometimes borne over the helm of the ancient knight by his squire, and, as would seem, even that of the prince, Earl, or Chief Baron, by his Baneret. See ver. 331. The English word is penon:

Says Chaucer speaking of Theseus in The Knight's Tale.

V. 252. Draffan's touirs.] The ruins of Draffan­castle are in Lanarkshire.—They stand upon a vast rock hanging over the Nethan (see v. 329.) which a little below runs into the Clyde. From this a house situated very nigh the ruins is called Craignethan. This castle is so ancient, that the country people there say it was built by the Pechts, which is their common way of expressing the Picts.

[Page 131]V. 273. His halbrik.] This term for a coat of mail occurs in Blind Harry. It was properly used for one composed of small rings of steel which yielded to every motion of the warrior, and was the same with the lorica hamata of the Romans, so picturesquely described by Claudian:

V. 275. Securit by a warloc auld, &c.] The belief that certain charms might secure the possessor from danger in combat was common in dark ages. ‘I know a song, by which I soften and enchant the arms of my enemies, and render their weapons of no affect,’ says Odin in his Magic. Northern Antiq. Vol. II. p. 217. Among the Longobards they were forbidden by a posi­tive Law. ‘Nullus Campio adversus alterum pugna­turus audeat super se habere herbas nec res ad maleficia pertinentes, nisi tantum corona sua, quae conveniunt. Et si suspicio fuerit quod eas occulte habeat, inquira­tur per Judicem, et si inventae fuerunt, rejiciantur. Post quam inquisitionem, extendet manum suam ipse in manu Patrini aut Colliberti sui, ante judicem, dicens, se nullam rem talem super se habere, deinde ad certamen prodeat LL. Longob. apud L. Germ. J. Basil. Herold.’ A similar notion obtained even in England, [Page 132]as appears from the oath taken in the Judicial Combat. ‘A. de B. ye shall swere that ye have no stone of virtue, nor hearb of virtue, nor charme, nor experiment, nor none othir enchauntment by you nor for you, whereby ye trust the better to overcome C. de D. your adversarie, that shall come agens you within these lists in his defence, nor that ye trust in none othir thynge propirly bot in God, and your body, and your brave quarel. So God you help and all halowes, and the holy gospells. Apud Dugdale, Orig. Juridic. & Miscell. Aulica, Lond. 1702. p. 166.’ And we find in a most acute and ingenious treatise on the point of honour, written in the middle of the sixteenth century, that this precaution was esteemed necessary so late as that period. Il Duello del Mutio Jus­tinopolitano, In Vineg. 1566. lib. II. c. 9. De i maleficii [...]t incante. ‘Et non senza ragione i moderni Padrini fanno spogliare i cavallieri, che hanno da entrare in battaglia, et iscuotere, et diligentemente essaminare i loro panni, &c.’ Many instances occur in the ac­counts of the civil wars of France, and of the Nether­lands: and more particularly in the very curious story of Gowrie's Conspiracy, published by James VI. at Edin­burgh, 1600, 4to. ‘His Majesty having before his parting out of that towne, caused to search the sayde Earle of Gowries pockets, in case any letters that might further the discovery of that conspiracie might be founde therein. But nothing was found in them, but a little close parchment bag full of magical [Page 133]characters, and wordes of enchantment, wherein it seemed that hee had put his confidence, thinking him­self never safe without them, and therefore ever car­ried them about with him; being also observed, that while they were upon him, his wound, whereof he died, bled not; but incontinent, after the taking of them away, the blood gushed out in great abundance, to the great admiration of all the beholders.’ See likewise Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland, by David Moyses, Edin. 1755. where this piece is reprinted ver­batim. Maister William Rynd, a servant of Lord Gowrie's, deposition in the same volume, p. 297, has singular anecdotes with regard to these characters.

V. 276. Fairy charm.] The word fairy seemes to have been accepted by the ancient English and Scotish poets for supernatural, or enchanted. So Chaucer speaking of Cambuscan's horse, ‘It was of fairie, as the peple semed. Squires Tale, p. 1.’

V. 362.] It was the priviledge of the knights to hide their faces with armour, so that it was impossible to distinguish any one from another, except by his blazon, which seems at first to have been displayed over them, but came at length to be painted on their shields, whence Coats of Arms. A villein was obliged to have his countenance uncovered in battle. This circumstance attended to will save our wonder at Hardyknute's not [Page 134]knowing Draffan in the First Part, and Draffan's not perceiving Malcolm here till his spear tore off his visor: though Rothiay knows Draffan either from his wearing a blazon on his armour, or from his face being uncovered in order to breathe from the combat.

V. 389. Cheir ye my mirrie men, &c.] It should have been remarked on the first appearance of this word, P. I. v. 199, that mirrie was anciently used in a very different sense from its present. It signified honest, true, faithful, but no where jovial. King James VI. in his Daemonologie MS. pen. Edit. ‘Surelie the difference vul­gaire put betwixt thame is verrie mirrie, and in a man­ner trew. p. 10.’ And again in p. 18. ‘Many honest and mirrie men.’ In like manner Merlin's Prophecies are styled 'Mirrie words,' in that of Beid. Proph. of Rymer, &c.

V. 413. Oh King of Hevin!] This is a common ap­pellation of the Deity with the more ancient Scottish Poets. By Hevins King, is the familiar oath of Blind Harrie's heroes.

V. 419. By my Forbere's saul.] Swearing by the souls of their ancestors was another used mode in those times. The greatest thought this oath most strong and honour­able; probably because it implied the souls of their forefathers were in heaven, and, as was then believed, might lend them a supernatural aid, if the intention of their oath was just and unblameable.

V. 421. 'Now mind your aith,' &c.] This passage is obscure: the meaning I apprehend is, that Draffan [Page 135]had, before the combat, exacted an oath of Allan his baneret, that he would slay him, should the necessity of his affairs demand this sacrifice. More willing to lose his own life than possibly to take that of his great anta­gonist, he commands Allan to fulfil his engagement, which, with all the heroic faith of those times, he does without a pause. The particular expression ‘The shynand blade’ might lead us to imagine, that it was thought impossible to pierce the supposed enchanted armour, but with one particular weapon, likeways perhaps charmed.

V. 437. Icolm.] The Nunnery at Icolm, or Icolm­kill, was one of the most noted in Scotland. The Nuns were of the order of Augustine, and wore a white gown, and above it a rocket of fine linen. Spotiswood's Account of the Religious Houses in Scotland, p. 509. The ruins of this nunnery are still to be seen, with many tombs of the Princesses; one of which bears the year 1000. Martin's Western Islands, p. 262.

I cannot conclude my remarks on this Poem without wasting one on the story of Mrs. Wardlaw. That this lady may have indeed received a MS. of it as mentioned in Dr. Percy's introductory note, is highly probable. Many valuable MSS. prepared for the press, have had a worse fate. But that she was the author of this capital composition, so fraught with science of ancient manners as the above notes testify, I will no more credit, than that the common people in Lanarkshire, [Page 136]who can repeat scraps of both the parts, are the authors of the passages they rehearse. That she did not refuse the name of being the original composer is a strange argument: would not the first poet in Europe think it added to his reputation? If conjecture may be allowed where proof must ever be wanting, I suspect, if we assign the end of the fifteenth century as the date of the antique parts of this noble production, we shall not greatly err; though at the same time the language must convince us that many strokes have been bestowed by modern hands.

Since the first publication of this volume, Sir David Dalrymple, Lord Hales, whose abilities have been so often, and so successfully, exerted in illustrating the antiquities of his country, to the law and the literature of which he is so great an ornament, has communi­cated to the Editor some notices with regard to this poem of Hardyknute, which shall here be laid before the reader, almost in his own words.

The following are extracts of a letter written by Sir John Bruce of Kinross, to Lord Binning, about the year 1719.

‘To perform my promise, I send you a true copy of the manuscript I found, some weeks ago, in a vault at Dumferline. It is written on vellum in a fair Gothic character; but so much defaced by time, as you'll find that the tenth part is not legible.’

[Page 137]Sir John transcribes some stanzas, which he calls verses. After l. 112, P. I. he says, ‘here are four verses defaced,’ and then he transcribes l. 113.

At l. 128 he adds, hiatus in MS. and then he tran­scribes l. 153. At l. 320 he says, ‘Here are ten verses (stanzas) so spoilt that I can only guess by the many proper names, that they contain the order of battle of the Scots army, as they stood ranged under their different chieftains.’

In conclusion Sir John says, ‘there's a vast deal more of it, but all defaced.’

The reader is left to judge whether this story of the manuscript on vellum, &c. has most the appearance of a true narrative, or of a jeu d' esprit addressed to a fami­liar friend.

Lord Hales has a copy of the original edition of Har­dyknute, with MS. alterations, in the hand writing of Dr. John Clerk, Physician in Edinburgh. At l. 85, it has 'brade Thomas;' Sir John Bruce has ‘bred Mal­colm.’ At l. 98, Sir John Bruce's MS. has 'Walter' instead of 'Malcolm.' At l. 103, 'brazen' for 'silver;' and at l. 104, 'iron doors,' for ‘painted bowers.’

In Dr. Clerk's MS. lines, 176—180 run thus;

[Page 138]In Dr. Clerk's MS. the stanza On Norway's coast, &c. comes in after the stanza There on a lee with much pro­priety: that reading is therefore followed in this edi­tion.

but has been changed into that which occurs in later editions.

ARGUMENT.

‘The description of the fourth kynde of Spreitis, called the Pharie. What is possible chairin, and what is but illusions. Whow far this dialogue entreates of all thir thingis: and to what ende.’

‘P. Now I pray you come on to that fourt kynd of spreittis. E. That fourt kynde of Spreitis, quhilk be the gentiles was called Diana and her wandring court, and amongs us was called the Pharie (as I tolde you) or our guid neighbouris’ (the King has added on the margin 'or sillie wightis') ‘was ane of the sortis of allusions that was ryfest in tyme of Papistrie; for all­though it was holdin odious to prophesie be the devill, yet whome these kynd of spreittis caried away, and informed, thay wer thought to be sonciest, and of best lyfe. To speak of the manie vaine tratlis foundit upon that illusion; how thair was ane king and queine of Pharie, of sic a jolie court and traine as thay had; how thay had a teind and a dewtie, as it wer, of all guidis: how thay naturallie raid and yeld, eat and drank, and did all other actions lyke naturall men and wemen; I think it is lyker Virgilis Campi Elisei, nor any thing that aught to be beleived be Chris­tianis.’

This Manuscript is written in a beautiful Italic hand, so nearly resembling copper-plate engraving, as to have been taken for such even after accurate examination. It is bound in gilded vellum, stamped with the King's eypher beneath the crown; and is in all probability the [Page 150]original copy of this royal monument of superstition. Many additions are inserted on the margin, as would seem, of the hand-writing of James VI. and some notes for his own private use. As for instance on B. II. ch. 1. speaking of the Magicians of his time, over against the words ‘Thay are sume of thame riche and worldlie wyse,’ he has noted F. M. ‘sum of tham fat or cor­pulent in their bodies,’ R. G. ‘and maist pairt of thame altogethir gevin ouer to the pleasours of the flesche,’ B. N.

We need not wonder at the severity with which the imaginary crime of withcraft was punished in his reign, when we remark his sentiment expressed on this head, in B. III. ch. 6. of this singular tract. ‘P. Then to make ane ende of our conference sence I see it drawis leatt, what forme of punishment think ye merites thir Magiciens and Witches? For I see that ye account thame to be all alyke giltie. E. (The King) Thay aught to be put to deathe, according to the law of God, the civill and imperiall law, and the municipal law of all Christiane nations. P. But what kynde of death I pray you? E. It is commonly used be fyre, but that is ane indifferent thing to be used in every countrey according to the law or custume thairof. P. But aught no sexe, aage, nor rank, to be eximed? E. NONE AT ALL.’

[Page 151]The language of this pedantic Monarch is particular; it is that of a Scotish school-boy beginning to read English.

In the printed copies the style is much altered and improved. It was printed at Edinburgh, and re­printed at London in the same year, 1603, 4to.