Vol. VII. General correspondence for 1716, and letters to Lord Stair. (1) From Earl of Sutherland about the state of the clans in Inverness-shire. (2) Copy of another from him to Mr. Cadogan, in French.

Letters from Mr. Rowley. Havre.
Daniel Moore. Calais.

Jas. Dalrymple. Edinburgh.

[about the rebellion which " dwindles sensibly."] Unsigned letter, with account of movements in Scotland.

A very miscellaneous series, but all apparently on public events.

Vol. VIII. General correspondence, from September to December 1716.

The collection is very miscellaneous; the writers are of less prominence, but the letters are on public affairs.

Vol. IX. Letter from George I. to the Princess of Conde, 3rd May 1717.

Letters from the Earl of Stair, and his Secretary, Mr. Thomas Crawford, during 1717.

Letters from Mr. Addison and Secretaries of State at Whitehall.

Mr. Henry Davenant. Genoa.

Mr. Manning. Berne.

Mr. Bubb and Col. Stanhope. Madrid.

Mr. Crawford writes about the movements of the Pretender, and the Earl of Marr, and the Jacobites generally.

Earl Stanhope.

Vol. XIII. A. Copies of letters from the Earl of Stair, 1718.

Letters from the Secretaries of State at Whitehall (Craggs and Stanhope) during this year.

Copy letter from Earls Stair and Stanhope to Sir

George Byng, 21st January 1718.

Letter, Earl Stanhope to Byng.

Vol. XIII. B. Letters from the Secretaries of Stato at Whitehall to Lord Stair during 1718.

Copy letter by Sir D. Dalrymple, Bart., to the Duke of Hamilton (29th November 1711), about the objections to the introduction of Scots Peers by writ, stating that they were not shared in by the Commissioners appointed to treat of the Union. A long letter founded on the articles of Union. [This last letter is in Vol. I.]

Vol. XIV. Letters (1718), from

Lord Polwarth. Copenhagen.

Col. Lascelles and Mr. Armstrong. Dunkirk.
Mr. Alex. Cunningham. Venice.

M. de Saphorin. Vienna.
Mons. Schaub. Vienna.
Lord Albemarle. The Hague.
Mr. Whitworth. The Hague.

Earl Cadogan. The Hague.

Prince Eugene de Sauoye. Vienna.

Vol. XV. Instructions and additional instructions to Sir George Byng, Knight and Baronet, Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet in the Mediterranean. May and July 1718, and orders by Sir George to the Captains of H.M. Ships.

Letters from Sir Geo. Byng to Lord Stair, dated chiefly from Naples.

Many letters from M. d'Avenant. Genoa.

Col. Stanhope. Madrid.

Copies of letters from Col. Stanhope to Secretary Craggs. Madrid.

Vol. XVI. General correspondence, from January to April 1718.

Letters from

Mons. Robethon. St. James.

R. Arbuthnot.

M. de Robethon.

London. London.

Vol. XVIII. General correspondence, from September to December 1718. The letters are written to Lord Stair from various places, principally on the Continent.

Vol. XIX. Letters during 1719.

From Charles Electeur Palatine (26th March).
Letters from the Secretaries of State, I. Craggs, Ch.

Delafaye. London.

Letters to and from M. L'Abbe du Bois.

Copy letter, Lord Stair to Lord Stanhope, 27th May. "Private." Paris.

Ditto, ditto, 20th July. Paris.

Letter, Lord Stanhope to Lord Stair, 5th December 1719.

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Letters dated "Cockpit," 10th March 1719, unsigned, on politics. Good Ld. Cadogan, tho' he has made the "utmost professions of friendship and deference to "other folks measures, has certainly blown the coals; "he has a notion of being premier ministre, which I "believe you will with me think a very Irish one."

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"The King will be very peevish, and I wish he does not fall sick if he cannot goe to Hanover. Let me "tell you that Sunderl. and Stanh. are very sincerely your friends."

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Vol. XIX.B. Letters from the Secretaries of State, 1719. Whitehall.

Long detailed answers from Secretary Craggs to letters from Lord Stair, as to French and Spanish

Earl Stair to the Abbe d'Bois.

Earl Stair to Earl Stanhope, 5th October 1718,-par. ticulier.

Draft letter, Earl Stair to Col. Stanhope.

hindered from writing by home politics, and "the "nature of your dispatches has been such that it was "impossible for me to return you any answer till I had "received His Majesty's special and particular direc"tions upon them; and they contained matters of such "nicety that His Majesty has been willing to take time "and advice from his other ministers before he directed me to reply to them."

Ditto, Earl Stair to M. de Saphorin.

Letter, Earl Stair to Col. Stanhope.

[The copies seem often to be the original drafts.]

Letters from

Col. Gardener.
Lord Reay.

Lord Chesterfield.
Duke of Montrose.
Lord Cathcart.
Earl of Kinnoull.

The Prince of Orange.
Earl of Rothes.

Tho. Villiers. Dresden.
Earl of Loudoun.
Earl of Hardwicke.

THE PAPERS AND MANUSCRIPTS OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE. THE EARL OF ROSSLYN, AT DYSART HOUSE. The ancient papers of the family were destroyed in an accidental fire at Dysart House which occurred in May 1722, with the exception of a very few which happened not to be in the Charter Room at the time; but an inventory of the whole has been preserved.

Of those which escaped destruction are the fol

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Various accounts of clothiers and shoemakers, with bills for lodging of Robert Lord Viscount Oxfuird and Patrick Hamilton, of Little Preston. Discharges by the latter to the former, 1666-1667.

Lady Oxfuird's account to George Stirling, apothecarie. 1667.

Account, the Laird of Little Preston to Thomas Kinkaid, apothecarie, beginning 1669 and ending 1676.

Another volume in 4to has one old document, a writ signed by the Duke of Albany, 148-; the rest of the volume being occupied with Peers' letters soliciting votes at elections. 1742-4, &c.

TheStair Papers" contain many documents of great value for understanding the politics of Europe during the period over which they extend, as well as the state of parties in England.

It is impossible within the compass of a report to do more than indicate their extent and general character, or to specify how many of them may have been already printed in the historical collections of the period. It seems plain that many of the documents are new to history, and I cannot doubt that calendars of these would be of great service to the historical student.

There are a few letters addressed to Sir Patrick Hamilton in the Preston volume, of which, from the allusions and subjects, brief notes should be made.

JOHN STUART.

Charter by Richard Moreville, Constable of Scotland, granted to Henry St. Clair, of the lands of Herdmanstoun and others, for the service of the fourth part of a soldier. [Circ. 1160.]

Charter by the said Richard Moreville, granting to the said Henry St. Clair, for three marks, Edmund and Gillemichel, two brothers, and their offspring, on condition that, if they should leave Henry's service with his consent, they should not serve any other master than the said Richard.

A Norse deed on parchment, described in an old Inventory of Orkney Writs in the Charter Room as "berand all the lands that Zopyn Segarsone airit be "his wif Johne Scottis dochter, and alsua the landis "quhilkis he wan fra Thome Inglis, that he clamit of "Andro Scot at wes his wiffis faider bruder, and the " said Zopyn sald it to Schir Dauid Sinclair, Inprimis " in Linga, in Quhalisay sound, x merkis & viii d."

"Ane letter in Northin beand ane Charter made be "Olave Mavnusone of xxii merkis landis of Hoole in "Ovnst, to Schir Dauid Sinclair and his aris."

Another is entitled "Letter in Northin of the King "of Norwayis-is of the Scottis [Skatts] of Orkney, umquhill givin to Bishop William Tullauch for his lyve tyme, and eftir him gevin to Sir David Sinkler for his lyve tyme--part is in Inglis."

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Skatt was a tax on all odal land, payable to the King of Norway, for the support of the Crown and the expense of Government, and William Tulloch, Bishop of Orkney, was receiver for the Crown. He continued to administer the Earldom of Orkney after it was ceded to the Scottish King in 1471, and, according to some accounts, he laid the foundation of those measures which afterwards led to the overthrow of the tenure and privileges of the Odallers, and to the introduction into Orkney of the feudal tenure with its many exactions.

Of the miscellaneous papers of early date, the following are worthy of notice :

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Obligation by William Maitland, younger, of Ledinton, Secretar to our Soverang Lady, touching "the sale to him by Henry, Master of Sinkler, of the "lands of Bolbagy and others, and also ane hundreth "merks yeirly off all and haill the Colheuche off Dysart, and also ane Hous callit THE HERMITAGE, within the Bruch of Dysart, which he obliges himself to resign on the completion of the marriage agreed on between James, the eldest son of the said Henry "Sinkler, with Marien Maitland, the eldest daughter "of the said William Maitland. Dated at Edinburgh, 20 March 1564, before witnesses, David, Earl of Crawford, Richard Maitland, of Lethington, Master "Robert Maitland, Vicar of Kinnarny, Master John Gothre, and Cuthbert Henderson, Notar Public."

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The House, thus called "The Hermitage," in the town of Dysart, is associated with St. Servanus, or St. Serf, the great Saint of Fife, who is believed to have flourished down to the beginning of the fifth century, when he died at his monastery of Culros on the Forth, a spot on which a Cistercian Abbey was erected in later times.

At Culros St. Serf presided over one of the monastic "families" of the Celtic Church, from thence evangelizing the country around, and founding churches in many parts of Fife, which own him as their patron saint; while it was under St. Serf that Kentigern received his training to be the apostle of the Cumbrian Britons.

We learn from an early life of St. Serf that he was wont to retire to cells and caves for purposes of devotion, and that, while in one of the latter, "in Deserto,' he was assaulted by the Devil, who wished to engage him in a religious disputation. This cave was situated in a rock on the sea-shore not far from the town of Dysart, and, although its surface is much disintegrated through the effect of damp, there may still be seen marks of artificial cutting, which probably resembled the remarkable figures cut on the walls of the adjoining caves at Wemyss and Caiplie, where St. Adrian and his " company" occasionally resided on their mission among the Picts of Fife.

Such retreats were known in early ecclesiastical language as "Deserta," and both in Scotland and Ireland the memory of their primitive occupants is kept up by the term "Disert," or "Dysart," which has been affixed to them.

It thus happens that the territory of Dysart owes its name to the Hermitage of St. Serf, which was doubtless a prominent object of regard when permanent names came to be given; and it would appear that the House, "callit The Hermitage," designed to form part of the dowry of the daughter of Queen Mary's Secretary, had stood in close connexion with the original cave of St. Serf.

Other documents in the Inventory of the papers make reference to the "aikers lying in the Chappells of "St. Servan," and to "the house and yard lying "immediately beneath the Church of Dysart possest by Sir Henry Pearson, Chapland of St. Servan's "Chappell, in Dysart."

The Parish Church was, of course, dedicated to St. Serf. "Sanct Serf's hill" appears in early deeds as a land boundary, and "Sanct Serf's money was a yearly payment made by the inhabitants of Dysart for purposes connected with his Church.

A Book of Household Expenses, 1564, kept by Robert Oliphant, and regularly balanced and docqueted by Henry Sincklar," the Lord of Dysart. It is bound in the leaves of an old Service Book, and the entries are very minute and curious.

Journal of John Paterson, Archbishop of Glasgow, while in London in the years 1695–6.

This Prelate had been deprived of his see at the time of the Revolution, and was now in London. In his Diary he records his interviews with many of the leading statesmen of the day, whose influence he was soliciting for the royal permission to his return to Scotland. This was, however, denied to him, and he was also prohibited from residing in any of the northern counties of England.

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The following is a specimen of the Diary :"Jan. 26. Sunday before prayers, Mrs. Strachan "told me that she perceived my Lady Warner had a great desire that I should marie her, and said she "had told her she had never seen a person since she was a widow that she could marie save me only. "She is a most discreet and wise woman, and of an opulent fortune. I am much obliged to her, but am "in no thoughts of marrying more.' "Earl Arran is still my noble friend, and sent me a bottle of Irish "usquebeau, and six bottles of Burgundy, Hermitage, "and Frontiniage wine.'

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Abstract of the account of the Orkneys under the family of Sinclair, being a rough draft only." 16 pp. fol.

Memoirs of the Insurrection in Scotland in 1715. By John, Master of Sinclair. This volume has been printed for the Abbotsford Club.

Besides these records of carly date, there is an extensive collection of letters, ranging in date from 1774 to 1830. They were addressed to the first and second Earls of Rosslyn by some of the most eminent political leaders of the period, and relate to many transactions of public interest and importance.

The earliest portion of these were written to the first Lord Rosslyn, better known by his previous title of Lord Loughborough, Lord High Chancellor of England.

They have only been partially arranged, and are still in their original covers. They consist of:

1. A series of letters from Lord Clive, beginning in 1774.

2. A very extensive collection of letters from Edmund Burke, ranging over the period from 1780 to 1797.

At the commencement their style is formal, but it grows into one of affection, and many of the letters are long and of great interest. One, dated 13th June 1792, is on the subject of a coalition government, where the writer says, "I think with you almost in "everything."

6. A series of letters from Charles James Fox, only dated by the day of the week.

7. A series from the Bishop of Clonfert, 1783-1804. 8. A series from Lord Lavington in 1792.

9. A series from William Pitt, 1792-1800. Some of these are long, and a few are marked "private."

10. A serics from Lord Thurlow, 1796-97. 11. One from Lord Minto, 1798.

12. One from the Hon. W. Windham, undated. 13. A series from Lady Augusta Murray, 1798. 14. Three letters from Lord Eldon, 1801.

15. A series from the Earl of Carnarvon, 1793-94. 16. A letter from the Duke of Sussex, at Rome, 14th Nov. 1795. signed "Augustus Frederick," requests the Lord Chancellor's aid in getting measures passed for his relief, and about his marriage.

17. A series from Lord Moira, 1796-97.

18. One from the Earl of Tankerville, without date. 19. A series from Lord Suffield, 1796.

20. A packet containing letters from Lieut.-Gen. Whyte, Lord C. Somerset, Lady Lucas, and Dr. Laurence.

Besides these political letters addressed to the Lord Chancellor, there are many miscellaneous papers of his own, such as-

1. Memoranda of law cases and opinions, drafts of Bills, with relative remarks, and correspondence.

2. Papers connected with the union between Great Britain and Ireland; and on the admission of Roman Catholics to all the privileges of subjects.

3. Papers about the office of Lord High Steward and its precedency, and on other subjects; with notes and interlineations by the Lord Chancellor.

4. Papers, dated in 1778, relative to the state of affairs in America, and on the subject of a treaty.

5. Papers written apparently in the years 1792-3. One of them, in the Lord Chancellor's writing, is on the usefulness of defensive associations.

The letters to the second Earl of Rosslyn are dated from 1806 to 1830.

One large bundle is made up of separate packets, with the following titles:

1. Despatches Henry Brougham to the Earl of Rosslyn, Oct. 11 to Nov. 17, 1806.

2. Copies, letters, the Earl of Rosslyn to Lord Howe and Mr. Howe, 1806-7.

3. Despatches from the Earl of Rosslyn to Mr. Fox and Lord Grenville.

4. Lord Strangford's letter to the Earl of Rosslyn. 5. Private letters from Mr. Brougham to the Earl of Rosslyn, Sept. 1806 to Jan. 1807.

There are besides, many letters from Mr. Brougham to the Earl, of later dates, on all sorts of subjects, such as the Roman Catholic question, and the King's opinion of it; the position of Mr. Brougham with regard to office, &c.; with drafts of some of Lord Rosslyn's answers.

Conversation with Lord Brougham on Grey's re

tiring."

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Abercromby's letter to Brougham "-speculations as to the Duke of Wellington's intentions with respect to Ireland and Emancipation.

An extensive series of political letters from Earl Grey in the years from 1821 to 1829.

Several letters from the Duke of Wellington, in one of which, dated 28th May 1829, he offers to Lord Rosslyn the office of Privy Seal.

"Protocol of a statement made by Mr. Stephenson to the Duke of Wellington on the 6th of March 1830, by the command of H. R. Highness the Duke of Sussex, about the death of Lady Augusta D'Ameland, at Ramsgate, on Thursday evening March 4."

Besides these two sets of letters, there is a series dated in 1799 from Lord Nelson, Lord St. Vincent, and Lord Keith to General Sir James St. Clair, Bart., who, on the death of the first Earl of Rosslyn, succeeded to the title in 1805.

There can be no question that Calendars of many of the letters and papers here noted would contribute valuable materials for understanding the history of the period over which they extend; and if they are desired by the Commissioners, Lord Rosslyn is willing that they should be made.

JOHN STUART.

THE PAPERS OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF CAWDOR, AT CAWDOR CASTLE.

The Charters and other Records at Cawdor Castle have been recently arranged with great care, and can be readily consulted by reference to an Inventory.

The earliest in date is a charter granted by King Robert Bruce in 1310 to William Thane of Calder of the Thanage of Calder for a yearly payment of 12 merks, and the rent of the land which Fergus the Dempster was wont to pay in the time of King Alexander III.

We may infer that William was a descendant of those bereditary stewards of the Crown to whom the charge of this part of the Royal demesne lands had been committed, and who now had come to hold them hereditarily for payment of a stated rent, and services. The part of the Thanage originally assigned to the Brehons or Judges for their support, and in reward of the performance of their functions, had also come to be held for a fixed rent, and this rent instead of being paid to the Crown, was assigned to the Thane.

The Thanes of Calder were also hereditary Sheriffs of Nairn, and Constables of the Royal Castle at the burgh of Nairn.

This Scottish tenure, in no long time, was converted into a regular feudal holding, the Thanage being held in barony of the Crown.

The line of the early Thanes terminated in a female, on the death of William Thane of Calder, in the year 1498. His daughter Muriel, when only twelve years old, was married to Sir John Campbell, a younger son of the Earl of Argyle, and thus the thanage, and other lands, were carried into another family.

In 1689 Sir Alexander Campbell of Calder married Elizabeth, heiress of Stackpole Court, Pembrokeshire, and in 1726 his son John was married to Mary daughter of Lewis Pryse of Gogirthen. In 1796, John, the grandson of the last John, was created Baron Cawdor, and in 1827 his son John Frederick, was created Earl of Cawdor and Viscount Emlyn.

The papers at Cawdor illustrate the descent of the land, and the condition and relations of the family during this long period. A selection from them has been printed in a volume contributed to the Spalding Club by the late Earl of Cawdor, and as they may thus be said to have been brought under the notice of the historical student, it is not necessary for me to give any detailed account of their nature in this place. I may remark, however, that the collection is full of instructive illustrations of the condition of the country, and progress of society in the shape of contracts, letters, domestic accounts, inventories of furniture, arms, plate, and the like, with detailed notices of planting and gardening.

In 1454, William of Calder, and Thane of the same, had a royal license for building and fortifying his castle at Cawdor, and the picturesque square tower which he erected, still remains, together with additions of subsequent dates, of which the history can be traced in the papers. In 1455 the Thane had a warrant from the Crown for razing and destroying the old insular Castle of Lochindorb, famous for the long siege which it stood under the Countess of Athol in 1336, for whose relief Edward III. made an expedition to the north in that year.

The marriage of the heiress of the old Thanes of Calder with Sir John Campbell led to much intercourse with families in Argyllshire. Among other lands which Sir John acquired in that country was the territory of Muckairne on the shores of Loch Etive. This had belonged to the monks of Iona, and it was now conveyed to Sir John Campbell by Ferquhard Bishop of the Isles and Commendator of Iona by a Charter, the narrative of which gives a very unfavourable picture of the native population: "Et quia (nobis ut clare constat) in prouincia praua et perniciosa nostre terre "antedicte jacent, de quibus summas et proficua in prefata carta specificatas, nec nos nec nostri pre"decessores unquam habere potuimus, aut potuerunt, nec eadem similiter vel verisimiliter apparet et "arbitramur memoratus Johannes aut heredes sui "habere poterit seu poterint."

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Sir John, with the view of strengthening his position in Argyllshire, contracted by bonds of manrent alliances with many of the chiefs of the Islands and Western Highlands. One of these dated at Canistak in Dura, 29th September 1520 is a bond of fostering between him and Neyll McNeyll of Geae, by which Sir John "bindis and oblyes hym for to gif to Neill McNeyll of Geae "in fosteren his secund son callyt Johne, and gif that

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son deyss, the next son or dochter that the forisaid "Johne hais to gif, to the forsayd Neyll quhen he desyris any of thame."

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His second son John was Prior of Ardchattan and Bishop of the Isles, and in his last will this prelate constitutes the Laird of Calder, his nephew, to be his executor, leaving his body "to be bureit in Ecolmkill gyf God callis me thair, and to be laid with byschoippe John Campbell in Sanct Michellis crwist quhilkis I haif mendit and thekit." His principal means consisted of outstanding claims against the "men "of the ylis" and others, who seem to have been bad debtors, and among his legacies is one "to Daniel "McFeye, harper, by [besides] his hundreth pundis "I aucht hym, with the feye, sax lib."

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One of the papers connected with Muckcarne (still unprinted) seems worthy of note.

It is a notarial instrument dated 12 March 1541, on the election of Duncan, son of Odo MacDunlewe, clerk of the diocese of Dunkeld, to the parish clerkship_of Killespickerrill and Kilmacronack in Muckarne. The election was made by the parishioners assembled in the Church of Kilmacronack" ad diuina audienda," and in token thereof, symbolical possession was given to Patrick [Mac] Finlay, [Mac] Alexander Glass, as procurator for Duncan " per aque baiulum sine vasculum, aquam consecratam in se continentem, cum arspers"orio." Qui quidem Patricius finlai Alexandri Glass, secutus est curatum per totam ecclesiam, atque "ministrauit missam majorem celebranti procuratoris "nomine dicti Duncani in signum electionis et posses"sionis eiusdem."

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The record contains a full list of the names of the parishioners, and is a good example of the Gaelic system of name-giving, where some forefather, or saint, was selected as a head, and the members of the family were recognized by their descent from, or relation to, him.

The few trades from which names were derived may be held to show the circumscribed wants of the community, beyond what the skill of each family could supply. Of these the most prominent was that of fuller; then the blacksmith and the tailor.

The following is a specimen of the names :-Nigellus Joannis McKennich, Dugallus Nigelli, Nigellus Donaldi vic Dunlewe, Dugallus Donaldi Nigelli vic Awlai, Anna dominici Cristini, Gillespik Mac Gillespik vic Achem, pych, Karistina nein a doura, Gillespik Mac Gillemore, Gillefeilan Donaldi Macgillebane, Cristinus Maelmore vie gillelan, Nicolaus Johannis Sartoris, Gillemichel Martini, Joannes Glass Mac Gillemore vic indowra, Dugallus Mac Gillechallum vic Philippi, Efrica dominici vic Calman, Katerina Vicarii Joannis Patricii vic Achromone, Finlaus Martini vic Gillindach, Joannes McGillespic vic choan, Gillecrist duf Mac Philip, Joannes niger Collini vic Philip, Finlaus fullo, Joannes Duncani nigri fabri, Katerina Columbi vic Gillebride, Donaldus Sartoris, Duncanus Joannis Duncani Sartoris, Joannes Joannis Duncani vic Torcatall, Duncanus bane mac Rowane, Gillebride mac lucas, Joannes Glass pectoris Mariota fabri, Mora nein a doura, Effririca fullonis, Cristina fullonis, Finlaus Macheath, Archibaldus Jonis Sartoris, Katerina fabri, &c.

It appears to me that although the Records at Cawdor have to a certain extent been made known to the student, yet calendars of many of those of general historical interest would be found useful, as part of a series suggested in my general report of last year to be made from the miscellanies printed for clubs and families, but not published. JOHN STUART.

THE PAPERS OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD FORBES, AT CASTLE FORBES.

THE ancient family of Forbes derived its name from the territory of Forbes in Aberdeenshire, which has belonged to them since the middle of the 14th century, and probably from a much earlier period, although their title can only be proved by records from the date just mentioned.

At an early time three branches blossomed into the Houses of Pitsligo, Tolquhon, and Brux, the first of which shared with the parent stem the honours of nobility.

The members of the House of Forbes soon assumed a position of public importance. The grandson of the first clearly ascertained head having served under the Earl of Buchan in the beginning of the 15th century in that gallant band of Scots which he led into France,