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in 1375, in which the Queen undertakes to aid him in getting lawyers to plead his cause for the recovery of his heritage which points to the supreme power of the House of Douglas, in whose hands his inheritance of the Lordship of Bothwell then was placed, and the difficulty of getting lawyers to question their title. A document of the same date illustrates the operation of the "Law of Clan Macduffe," so variously described in the early chronicles of Scotland; while others of a later date contain the records of Courts held by the Stewards of Stratherne, after the fashion of the Celtic Brehons, on a mound near the town of Crieff. There is an extensive series of original letters, beginning with one from Queen Mary and Darnley in 1565, and others from the Regent Morton, the Regent Mar, and his wife, and from King James VI. One from the Queen of this Monarch, dated at Wilton in 1603, orders the Laird of Abercairny to take the Queen's litter, with the furniture belonging to it, and burn them at the market-place of Salisbury. A separate series of letters and papers is connected with the risings of 1715 and 1745.

Among the papers of Sir Patrick Keith Murray, who represents not only the Murrays of Ochtertyre, but the Keiths of Dunnottar, are several which relate to the foundation of a tower at Dunnottar by Sir William Keith, Great Marischal of Scotland, about the year 1390. It appears that he had erected his tower on consecrated ground, and a Writ of Pope Benedict XIII., relaxing him from excommunication, narrates a Petition in which Sir William set forth the facts. The Scottish Regalia were preserved for a time in the Castle of Dunnottar during the time of the Commonwealth; and from one of the documents in the Collection it would seem that Charles II. had wished to acquire the Castle after the Restoration. Another preserves the Articles for the order of business in the Scottish Parliament in 1641. There were two sessions daily, the first from 9 to 12, and the second from 3 to 6 o'clock. There were daily sermons before the morning meeting, but they were ordered to stop before 9. Attendance was enforced under sanction of fines, but there was no sitting on Monday, and a half holiday on Saturday. Among the charters and miscellaneous papers are some of considerable value. One of especial interest is the record of a series of Baron Courts held on the Moothill of Langforgrund in 1385. The formalities of the proceedings are given in great detail, and part of the Record being in Scotch preserves specimens of the vernacular, of an age contemporary with Barbour's great poem of "The Bruce." Among the miscellaneous papers is a charter of privileges by King Robert Bruce to the Abbey of Deer in Buchan, in recompense, as it bears, of the destruction done by the King to their property in his recent warfare with Comyn, Earl of Buchan; a destruction so great that according to Barbour it was long held in memory as the herschip of Buchan ;" and a remarkable instrument in July 1560, in which William Earl Marischal renounces the office of executor of the late Queen Dowager, which she wished him to assume. Among the letters is one of news from William Lord Keith, just started on a continental tour, to his father in 1611. One from the Privy Council as to carrying out the Perth articles, one from the Bishop of Aberdeen, describing an interview with King James VI., when that monarch was residing at Kinnaird Castle, and announcing a visit to Dunnottar and Aberdeen of his Majesty's attendants, among whom was Archibald Armstrong, his "plesant." Among the letters of a later date is a series written by Sir George Murray to Sir Peter his brother, relative to the war in the Peninsula in 1810. Dr. Stuart has made two Reports on this collection, which will be found in the Appendix, p. 408, and p. 411.

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The papers at Dundas (App., p. 413) begin with a charter by Waldeve, son of Cospatrick, to Helias, son of Huctred, of the lands of Dundas in the early part of the 12th century, the next in date being about the middle of the 14th century. The Governor Albany granted a license to the laird of Dundas to build his tower at Dundas in form of a castle, and a similar license was granted by James I. The tower which was built in consequence is still entire. Various documents illustrate the history of a house of the Carmelite order founded before the middle of the 15th century by James Dundas, of Dundas, and there is also a collection of historical letters from King James VI., the Regent Morton, and the Privy Council of Scotland.

The charters of Mr. Dundas, of Arniston, are numerous and carefully arranged, beginning with a series of deeds of the Knights Templars, the first of which is dated in 1354.. Another branch of the collection comprises miscellaneous documents and contracts dating from 1538. There are numerous books of household and estate expenses, including the management of coal pits, from 1620, which are full of valuable statistical information. The correspondence at Arniston is a great feature of the collection, and the letters fill

eight volumes, in which they have been arranged. In the first three are examples of letters to Sir James Dundas, of Arniston, by Sir A. Hume, the first Earl of Stair, Lord Loudoun, the Earl of Lauderdale, and others. The others contain letters from the Duke of Roxburgh, Secretary of State, to Robert Dundas, Solicitor General (1717), from the first President Dundas to his son at Utrecht, letters from the Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, Sir Andrew Mitchell, the first Lord Melville, and other public men to the second Lord President Dundas, as well as a miscellaneous series by various writers, from 1719 to 1819, more or less of a public character. The whole collection is rich in illustrations of local and national history, and several of the letters have already been turned to historical account by Lord Stanhope in his Life of Pitt. (App., p. 414.)

Mr. Webster's collection (App., p. 420) is extensive, and has been chronologically arranged. It has been acquired by him from the Lauderdale, Southwell, Leeds, and other collections. It comprises two letters from Cardinal Beaton, two from the Regent Murray, one from Maitland, of Lethington, one from Lady Arabella Stewart, with specimens from James VI., Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, Judge Hales, General Monck, Lord High Treasurer Danby, Bishop Burnet, the Scotch Privy Council of Charles II., Sir Thomas Dalzel, John, Earl of Stair, a series from the Earl of Seafield, Lord Chancellor, and the Duke of Argyll, when Commissioner to the Scotch Parliament. There are also letters from Prince Charles Edward, and two from Cardinal York, in which he gives a melancholy picture of his brother's habits.

The collection of papers at Wemyss is large and important, and Dr. Stuart's Report, which is full of interest, is printed in the Appendix, p. 422. The series of family records begins in 1250, and many of the Charters and indentures illustrate points of general historical interest as well as local history and topography. There is a large collection of letters from the Sovereigns of Scotland, and from noblemen and officers of State. Several from James VI. relate to the disordered state of the borders and the border clans, of whom on many occasions he sent members to be kept in the house of Wemyss as pledges. There are several from Charles I. and Charles II., as well as from General Morck and Archbishop Sharp, with a series from Anna, Duchess of Buccleuch and Monmouth, to her stepfather David, Earl of Wemyss, dated from 1663 to 1679. Many of these afford curious illustrations of the times. Among the manuscripts is a good example of Pitscotties Chronicle, and a Journal kept by Lord Elcho, beginning in 1721 and ending in 1783.

The University of Glasgow was the second of three Scottish institutions of the 15th century, all established on the model of the University of Bologna or other foreign schools, and was founded in 1450. The Records of the University are full and complete from its commencement, and selections from them have been printed for the Maitland Club in four volumes. The first contains the deeds of foundation. illustrating the constitution of the University, its privileges and endowments. In the second are documents showing the internal regulations and discipline, annals of the University proceedings, and records of visitations. The third contains lists of chancellors, rectors, professors, and students, with specimens of household books kept by the economus, and the fourth volume is mainly occupied with a preface and index. The University Records contain masses of charters of lands belonging to the religious houses in Glasgow, and which were granted to the University; and of them a full inventory was formed in 1712. It appears that many of them are of early date, and are valuable for the purposes of local history. Dr. Stuart's Report (App., p. 423) is mainly devoted to the manuscripts and original records in the Hunterian Museum, many of which are beautifully illuminated, and are otherwise of great value.

In Ireland the documents inspected and reported on by Mr. Gilbert (App., pp. 425434) include those of the Marquis of Ormonde, the Earl of Granard, Parliamentary History of Ireland by Hugh Howard, and Historical Memoirs of the Earls of Desmond." Mr. Gilbert (App., p. 425) has made a Report on the Ormonde archives, which he states are rich in unique documents from the 12th century, and in manuscript books, state papers, correspondence and miscellanea to the early part of the 18th century. The documents antecedent to the 17th century in the Ormonde collection would, according to Mr. Gilbert, supply chasms in the early records of the realm, while from the more modern portion may be derived materials to fill in part many historic blanks, including the long regretted one caused by the extensive destruction of government papers in the fire at the Council Chamber in Dublin in 1711. A proper calendar of the Ormonde archives would, he adds, be a truly national work of rare interest and value in connexion with the history of Great Britain and Ireland.

The Huntingdon, Rawdon, and Moira documents, in the collection of the Earl of Granard (App., p. 430), include letters of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, her son Francis, tenth Earl of Huntingdon, her daughter Elizabeth, Countess of Moira, and of the latter's son Francis, successively Lord Rawdon, Earl of Moira, and Marquis of Hastings. The letters of Francis Rawdon contain interesting matter illustrating the early years of his career, and his services in the American war, 1776-1781.

The Parliamentary History of Ireland by Hugh Howard, LL.D., is an elaborate and apparently hitherto unknown work, and Mr. Gilbert has given a full account of it. (App., p. 432.)

The Historical Memoirs of the Geraldine Earls of Desmond contain many notices of the Desmond stock and its branches. Mr. Gilbert's Report will be found in the Appendix, p. 431.

Dr. Russell gives a short account (App., p. 434) of the Regestum Limericense, an ancient cartulary of the diocese of Limerick, popularly known in Ireland as the Liber Niger, or Black Book of Limerick. It is the property of the Roman Catholic bishop of that see; but has been, with wise liberality, deposited by him in the library of the College of St. Patrick at Maynooth. The history of the Liber Niger illustrates curiously the history of certain classes of church property in Ireland. At the Reformation it remained, in common with the other property of the see of Limerick, in the hands of the Protestant bishop, and in the reign of James I. Bishop Adams had a transcript made of a portion of it which was becoming illegible. In the war of 1641 it returned into Roman Catholic hands; but in the troubles which followed it again disappeared, and nothing seems to be discoverable of its history for a long series of years, until, in the beginning of the present century, it was restored to Bishop Young, the Roman Catholic bishop of Limerick from 1796 till 1813, by Mr. Ralph Ouseley, a Protestant gentleman, interested in antiquarian studies. Bishop Young having made some diocesan entries in the book, it may thus be said to extend over a period of more than six hundred years, from 1194 till 1813. from 1194 till 1813. In its general character it differs little from the ordinary ecclesiastical and monastic cartularies consisting of papal rescripts, charters, agreements, inquisitions, leases, covenants, and other records relating to the affairs of the see, many of which are full of interest not only for the antiquities and topography of Limerick, but also for the social history of the Anglo-Irish community. Dr. Russell notices one document of considerable interest, being an inquisition taken in 1201 under an order of Meyler Fitz Henry, Grand Justiciary, by William de Burgo, which has this remarkable peculiarity, that it was taken by a trilingual jury, consisting of twelve Englishmen, twelve Irishmen, and twelve Ostmen, or Danes. It may be useful to mention that three transcripts of the Black Book have been made; one under the direction of the late Rev. Dr. Todd, for the library of Trinity College, Dublin, one for the Roman Catholic bishop of Limerick, and one for the library of St. Patrick's College, Maynooth.

Dr. Russell also reports (App., p. 435) upon a volume of Memoranda on public affairs in Ireland, from 1757 to 1766, by the same Chief Baron Willes whose Letters and Notes on Ireland formed a subject of report last year. These Memoranda are of much interest as illustrating the secret history of the most notable debates of the Irish Parliament at that period. The Chief Baron was not a member of Parliament, but, in his capacity of Privy Councillor, he was called on, in the routine of Irish legislation at this time, to take part in the discussion at the Privy Council. The minutes of the Privy Council contain a very instructive record not only of many dropped measures, but also of the modifications which the measures eventually passed into law underwent at its hands. A remarkable example is noticed by Dr. Russell in the discussion of a bill which was carried through the House of Lords by Lord Clanbrassil in 1757, after an unsuccessful attempt. in the previous year; being a bill for the licensing of one Roman Catholic priest in each parish in Ireland. The Bill was rejected by a large majority of the Privy Council, and the measures of Lord Clanbrassil for the Education of the Roman Catholic clergy were of necessity abandoned.

Your Commissioners trust that the foregoing account of their operations will meet with the approval of Your Majesty. So far as they have been able to proceed, their success has surpassed their expectations, and a continuance of their inquiries will, they believe, produce equally favourable results. The public interest in the work of the Commission is unabated, and the ready and liberal manner with which noblemen, gentlemen, and various public authorities, have thrown open their collections of manuscripts to the officers of the Commission has been only equalled by the eagerness with which historical

and literary students have availed themselves of the results of the investigations thus made. Many important and valuable materials for the history of this country, which have for so long remained unexplored, if not altogether unknown, are now for the first time brought to light, and it is not too much to say that there is scarcely an important historical event, certainly no period of English history, which has not received some elucidation from the operations of Your Commission.

ROMILLY. (L.S.)

SALISBURY. (L.S.)

AIRLIE. (L.S.)

STANHOPE. (L.S.)

CHARLES LIMERICK. (L.S.)

EDMOND FITZMAURICE. (L.S.)
TALBOT DE MALAHIDE. (L.S.)

HOUGHTON. (L.S.)

ACTON. (L.S.)

WILLIAM STIRLING MAXWELL. (L.S.)
CHARLES WILLIAM RUSSELL. (L.S.)
GEORGE WEBBE DASENT. (L.S.)
THOMAS DUFFUS HARDY. (L.S.)

JOHN ROMILLY,
Secretary.

25th July 1872.

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