The Seven Machabees, brothers, and their mother, martyrs. Saints Faith, Hope, and Charity, virgins and martyrs, 2d century. St Pellegrini or Peregrinus, hermit, 643.
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Born. – Tiberius Claudius Drusus, Roman emperor, uncle and successor of Caligula, B.C. 11, Lyons.
Died. – Marcus Ulpius Trajanus Crinitus (Trajan), Roman emperor, 117, Selinus, in Cilicia; Louis VI., surnamed Le Gros, king of France, 1137; Stephen Marcel, insurrectionary leader, slain at Paris, 1358; Cosmo de’ Medici, the elder, grandfather of Lorenzo the Magnificent, 1464, Florence; Lorenzo Valla, distinguished Latin scholar, 1457 or 1465, Rome; Jacques Clement, monk, 1589; Jacques Boileau, theologian, brother of the satirist, 1716, Paris.
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LAMMAS.
This was one of the four great pagan festivals of Britain, the others being on 1st November, 1st February, and 1st May. The festival of the Gule of August,1 as it was called, probably celebrated the realisation of the first-fruits of the earth, and more particularly that of the grain-harvest. When Christianity was introduced, the day continued to be observed as a festival on these grounds, and, from a loaf being the usual offering at church, the service, and consequently the day, came to be called Hlaf-mass, subsequently shortened into Lammas, just as hlaf-dig (bread-dispenser), applicable to the mistress of a house, came to be softened into the familiar and extensively used term, lady. This we would call the rational definition of the word Lammas.
What appears as a relic of the ancient pagan festival of the Gule of August, was practised in Lothian till about the middle of the eighteenth century. From the unenclosed state of the country, the tending of cattle then employed a great number of hands, and the cow-boys, being more than half idle, were much disposed to unite in seeking and creating amusement. In each little district, a group of them built, against Lammas-day, a tower of stones and sods in some conspicuous place. On Lammas-morning, they assembled here, bearing flags, and blowing cow-horns – breakfasted together on bread and cheese, or other provisions – then set out on a march or procession, which usually ended in a foot-race for some trifling prize. The most remarkable feature of these rustic fêtes was a practice of each party trying, before or on the day, to demolish the sod fortalice of some other party near by. This, of course, led to the great fights and brawls, in which blood was occasionally spilt. But, on the whole, the Lammas Festival of Lothian was a pleasant affair, characteristic of an age which, with less to gain, had perhaps rather more to enjoy than the present.2
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GREAT FIRES A CAUSE OF RAIN: ESPY’S THEORY.
In Scotland, it is customary in spring to burn large tracts of heather, in order that herbage may grow in its place; and there also it is a common remark that the moor-burn, as it is called, generally brings rain.
The idea looks very like a piece of mere folklore, devoid of a foundation in truth; but it is very remarkable that, in our own age, a scientific American announced a theory involving this amongst other conclusions, that extensive fires on the surface of the earth were apt to produce rainy weather. He was a simple-hearted man, named James P. Espy, who for many years before his death in 1860 had occupied a post under the American government at Washington. It is undoubted that he made an immense collection of facts in support of his views, and though most of his scientific friends thought he was too ready to adopt conclusions, and too little disposed to review and test them, yet it must be admitted that his ‘law of storms,’ as he called it, was entitled to some measure of consideration.
The formation of hail has long puzzled men of science. Why should drops of water, falling from a cloud, be frozen while passing through a still warmer atmosphere, and even in hot climates? Mr Espy’s upward current solves the difficulty. The rain-drops are first carried up into the region of congelation, and being thrown outward, fall to the earth. So great masses of water, carried up in water-spouts, fall in a frozen state, in lumps which have sometimes measured fifteen inches in circumference. In the same manner Mr Espy accounts for the occasional raining of frogs, fishes, sand, seeds, and stranger substances; but he does not account for such matters being kept in the clouds for several days, and carried over hundreds of miles’ distance from the place where they were carried up in tornado or water-spout. They may have been carried up by the force of aërial currents. Thousands of tons of water are swept into the clouds by water-spouts, but what power prevents it from pouring down again in torrents?
Still the theory of Mr Espy is very ingenious, and has the merit of affording a reasonable explanation to many, if not all, phenomena. The committee of the French Academy called his attention to the connection of electricity with meteoric phenomena, but he does not appear to have pursued that branch of investigation. It is our opinion that a certain electrical condition of bodies in the atmosphere gives them a repulsion to the earth, and that gravitation has no effect upon such bodies, until there is a change in their electrical condition. The earth is a magnet which may either attract or repel bodies, as they are positive or negative to it. Only in this, or in some such way, can we account for solid bodies, often of considerable density, being sustained for days in the atmosphere. It may be admitted, in conformity with Mr Espy’s theory, that such bodies may have been carried upward in a tornado, and it may be that the atmospheric movements may develop their electrical condition.
Mr Espy was very anxious that the American government should make appropriations to test the utility of a practical application of his theory. He always asserted that, in a certain condition of the atmosphere, as of a high dew-point in a season of drouth, it was practicable to make it rain by artificial means. Nothing was necessary but to make an immense fire. This would produce an upward current, vapour would condense, the upward movement would thereby be increased, currents of air would flow in, with more condensation, until clouds and rain would spread over a great surface of country, so that for a few thousands of dollars a rain would fall worth millions. Mr Espy had observed that the burning of forests and prairies in America is often followed by rain. He believed that the frequent showers in London and other large cities have a similar origin. Rains have even been supposed to be caused by great battles. There is little doubt that they are caused by volcanic eruptions. An eruption in Iceland has been followed by rains all over Europe. In 1815, during an eruption of a volcano in one of the East India Islands, of a population of 12,000, all but 26 were killed by a series of terrific tornadoes. In this case there were phenomena strongly corroborative of Mr Espy’s theory. Large trees, torn up by the tornadoes, appear to have been carried upward by an ascending current formed first by the heat of the volcano, and then by the rush of winds from every quarter, for these trees, after being carried up to a vast height, were thrown outward and descended, scorched by the volcanic fires.
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LONDON BRIDGE – NEW AND OLD.
There was one clear space upon the bridge, of such extent that it was deemed a proper place for joustings or tournaments; and here, on St George’s Day 1390, was performed a tilting of extraordinary character. John de Wells, the English ambassador in Scotland, having boasted of the prowess of his countrymen at the Scottish court, a famous knight of that country, David Lindsay, Earl of Crawford, offered to put all questions on that point to trial by a combat on London Bridge, He was enabled by a royal safe-conduct to travel to London with a retinue of twenty-nine persons. The ground was duly prepared, and a great concourse of spectators took possession of the adjacent houses. To follow the narrative of Hector Bœce: ‘The signal being given, tearing their barbed horses with their spurs, they rushed hastily together, with a mighty force, and with square-ground spears, to the conflict. Neither party was moved by the vehement impulse and breaking of the spears; so that the common people affected to cry out that David was bound to the saddle of his horse, contrary to the law of arms, because he sat unmoved amidst the splintering of the lances on his helmet and visage. When Earl David heard this, he presently leaped off his charger, and then as quickly vaulted again upon his back without any assistance; and, taking a second hasty course, the spears were a second time shivered by the shock, through their burning desire to conquer. And now a third time were these valorous enemies stretched out and running together; but then the English knight was cast down breathless to the earth, with great sounds of mourning from his countrymen that he was killed. Earl David, when victory appeared, hastened to leap suddenly to the ground; for he had fought without anger, and but for glory, that he might shew himself to be the strongest of the champions, and casting himself upon Lord Wells, tenderly embraced him until he revived, and the surgeon came to attend him. Nor, after this, did he omit one day to visit him in the gentlest manner during his sickness, even like the most courteous companion. He remained in England three months, by the king’s desire, and there was not one person of nobility who was not well affected towards him.’
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EMANCIPATION OF BRITISH SLAVES.
The 1st of August 1834 was the day on which the slaves in the British colonies were assigned, not to their actual freedom, but to a so-called ‘apprenticeship’ which was to precede and prepare for freedom. Lord (then Mr) Brougham brought forward a measure to this great end in 1830; and Mr Fowell Buxton another in 1832; but no act was passed till 1833. It provided that on the 1st of August in the following year, all slaves should become ‘apprenticed labourers’ to their masters, in two classes; that in 1838 and 1840, respectively, these two classes should receive their actual freedom; that twenty millions sterling should ultimately be paid to the masters, who would then lose the services of their slaves; and that this sum would be distributed rateably, according to the market-price of slaves in each colony, during the eight years 1823-1830. Many subsequent statutes modified the minor details, but left the main principle untouched. It was found, on a careful analysis, that on the 1st of August 1834 (all negroes born after that date, were born free), there were 770,280 slaves in the colonies affected by the Emancipation Act.*
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1 Gwyl, Brit. a festival.
2 A minute account of the Lammas Festival was written by Dr James Anderson, and published in the Transactions of the Antiquarian Society of Scotland, vol. i. p. 194.
* Cosmo Innes, in Appendix IV. his ‘Sketches of Early Scotch History,’ makes the point;
“Lawyers know that it was decided by the Scotch Court earlier than the English, that a negro slave brought from the plantations where the law enforced slavery, became free by coming to this country (Case of Knight, Jan. 15th, 1778.)”
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On this Day in Other Sources.
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“This charter,” says a historian, “is dated 1st August, 1513, an era of peculiar interest. Scotland was then rejoicing in all the prosperity and happiness consequent on the wise and beneficent reign of James IV. Learning was visited with the highest favour of the Court, and literature was rapidly extending its influence under the zealous co-operation of Dunbar, Douglas, Kennedy, and others, with the royal master-printer. Only one month thereafter Scotland lay at the mercy of her southern rival. Her king was slain; the chief of her nobles and warriors had perished on Flodden Field, and adversity and ignorance again replaced the advantages that had followed in the train of the gallant James’s rule. Thenceforth, the altars of St. Giles received few and rare additions to their endowments.”
– Old and New Edinburgh, pp.138-148.
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As early as the 1st of August 1559, in a meeting of the reformers at Stirling, they resolved “to seek support, from all Christian princes, especially from England, against tyranny, or weakness of the Regent.” They forgot, that they were themselves acting against law, which was the tyrant, that pressed upon them, and not the Regent’s imbecility. Nor was their resolution retarded, by a menacing letter, which was, soon after, brought, from Francis, and Mary, to the commendator of St. Andrews, her bastard brother, who now influenced Scotland.
– Life of Mary, pp.15-41.
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The Queen was denuded of her kingdom, while her government remained, apparently, in the hands of the duke, her presumptive heir, though it was, really, possessed by Lord James, her father’s bastard. Even before the treaty [of Edinburgh] was settled, summonses seem to have been issued, by whatever power, to assemble a Parliament, which met, at Edinburgh, on the 10th of July, four days only after the signature of the treaty. But, this convention, immediately, adjourned to the 1st of August then next. Nor was there any attempt made, before this important meeting, to obtain the Queen’s ratification of a treaty, which deprived her of so much, and left her so little: Neither was it ever ratified, by her, or by any one having authority, from her. In the meantime, reformed ministers were appointed to the several towns, by whatever nomination, however contrary to law.
A convention, under the late adjournment, assembled at Edinburgh, on the 1st of August 1560. A singular scene, for a Scotish convention, now ensued. Some members mentioned, that no Parliament could be called, without the sovereign’s summons: nor could any Parliament sit without the sovereign’s presence, either personally, or by commission. Other members, referring to the late treaty, though not ratified, contended that it might sit, under an article of it, though whether the treaty was genuine or spurious, did not appear; it was by a majority resolved, “that the said article in the treaty, was a sufficient warrant for their present meeting.” The vehemence of the times, and the zeal of members, who had never sat in Parliament before, were deemed sufficient authorities for their irregular meeting. They abolished the established religion: nor would they attend to the claims of the established clergy, though stipulated in their own treaty: and they settled in its room, the Calvinism of Knox. The convention ratified the confession of faith, then professed. It attempted to repeal former laws, in favour of the established church, by deleting them forth of the bukis. The pope’s authority was renounced. An act of oblivion was passed, which left it doubtful, whether those, who acted under lawful authority, were indemnified. They directed a person to repair to Paris, in order to solicit the Queen’s ratification of those acts, and the treaty, whereon they were founded, though it is sufficiently apparent, that the Queen could not listen to such requests, under such circumstances. The last act of this convention, but not the least, was a deputation to Elizabeth, consisting of the Earls of Morton, and Glencairn, and Secretary Maitland; to court that prudish Queen, to accept the Huguenot Arran, for her husband. She declined this offer, which meant more than met the ear, with affected thanks, but real promises of support, to a nation which had so well merited her good will. On this point, the dissemblers, on both sides, agreed: In France, it was not overlooked, that a deputation of dignity had been sent, to court Elizabeth; while a simple knight had been directed to their sovereign, to solicit her approbation of what could not be approved, by any maxim of prudence, or any attention to her dignity.
– Life of Mary, pp.15-41.
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This year [1560], a peace is concluded [between] the Scottish, English and French. The articles concluded on were:
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Thirdly, That all injuries be [in the] past and put in oblivion, [between] the 15th of March 1558, and the first of August 1560.
– Historical Works, pp.275-340.
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This change may be considered as having been completed [on 1st] August 1560, when an irregular parliament, or assembly of the Estates of the kingdom, abolished the jurisdiction of the pope, proscribed the mass under the severest penalties, and approved of a Confession of Faith resembling the articles which had been established in England by Edward VI. The chief feature of the new system was, that each parish should have its own pastor, elected by the people, or at least a reader to read the Scriptures and common prayers. The great bulk of the possessions and revenues of the old church fell into the hands of the nobles, or remained with nominal bishops, abbots, and other dignitaries, who continued formally to occupy their ancient places in parliament, while the Presbyterian clergy were insufficient in number, and in general very poorly supported.
– Domestic Annals, pp.9-12.
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[Mark Kar] is styled “Commendator of Neubotle” in the roll of the members of the Parliament on 1st August 1560, who ratified and approved the Confession of Faith.1
– Sketches, pp.125-144.
1 Act. Parl. II. 525.
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John Acheson, master-cunyer, and John Aslowan, burgess of Edinburgh, now completed an arrangement with Queen Mary, by virtue of which they had license to work the lead-mines of Glengoner and Wanlockhead, and carry as much as twenty thousand stone-weight of the ore to Flanders, or other foreign countries, for which they bound themselves to deliver at the Queen’s cunyie-house before the 1st of August [1562], forty-five ounces of fine silver for every thousand stone-weight of the ore, ‘Extending in the hale to nine hundred unces of utter fine silver.’
Acheson and Aslowan were continuing to work these mines in August 1565, when the queen and her husband, King Henry, granted a license to John, Earl of Athole, ‘to win forty thousand trone stane wecht, counting six score stanes for ilk hundred, of lead ore, and mair, gif the same may guidly be won, within the nether lead hole of Glengoner and Wanlock.’ The earl agreed to pay to their majesties in requital fifty ounces of fine silver for every thousand stone-weight of the ore. – P. C. R.
– Domestic Annals, pp.13-29.
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On the 1st of August [1566], the Queen returned to Alloa, where she was joined, by the French ambassador, who had, meanwhile arrived, to congratulate her safe delivery, and by her husband, who remained two nights with her. It was at Alloa, on this occasion, that secretary Maitland, who had absconded after Rizzio’s assassination, was admitted into her presence, and pardoned, by the intercession of the Earl of Athol, in opposition to Bothwell’s influence, whatever it may have been.
– Life of Mary, pp.136-151.
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Elizabeth, amidst her agitations, either feigned, or real, seems to have forgotten, that the Queen of Scots remained unburied. Her body, indeed, had been embalmed, by the care of Andrews, the Sheriff; and placed in a leaden coffin, by order of Walsingham, till the ministers could obtain the final determination of Elizabeth, whether to comply with the late Queen’s desire; to be buried with her mother, in France; or where, or how, was to be disposed of a royal personage, who had once been the admiration of Europe. At the end of six months, Mary, the late Queen of Scots was, at length, interred, with a royal funeral, in the cathedral church of Peterborough, on Tuesday the 1st of August 1587, opposite to the grave of Queen Catherine. Shortly after this interment, there was a tablet hung against the wall, above her grave, which contained a lapidary inscription, from the pen of [Adam] Blackwood, and has been translated into Camden’s life of Elizabeth, in such English, as so inflated an inscription allowed. This tablet was not long after removed, by whatever hand; yet her royal ensigns of a helmet, sword, and scutcheon, as they hung high, remained to the year 1646, when they were involved, in the storms of fanaticism, which then fell upon this church, and its monuments.
– Life of Mary, pp.304-328.
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Aug. [1, 1649] – ‘About Lammas and afterwards, in many parts of this kingdom, both among bear and oats, there were seen a great number of creeping things – which was not ordinar – which remained in the head of the stalk of corn, at the root of the pickle.’ – Lam.
– Domestic Annals, pp.278-301.
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That during the continuance of the duties payable in England on windows and lights, which determines on the 1st day of August 1710, Scotland shall not be charged with the same duties.
– How Scotland Lost Her Parliament, Appendix – Note A.
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IX. And whereas it is just and reasonable, That all such Persons as have continued faithful to his Majesty during the late natural Rebellion, and who are by this Act discharged from keeping or using Arms, should have the just and true Value of all such Arms as they are obliged by this Act to lay aside: Be it therefore enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That all Persons within the Limits aforesaid, who have continued faithful to his Majesty, who are hereby obliged to lay aside their Arms, shall deliver them up to the Lords Lieutenants of their respective Counties, or their Deputies, or such other Persons as his Majesty shall be pleased to commission for that Purpose, and shall receive the true and just Value of them in Money in manner after-mentioned; that is to say, The Lords Lieutenants of the several Counties above-mentioned, or their Deputies, or such other Persons commissioned, as aforesaid, are hereby commanded and required, before the first Day of August, in the Year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred and sixteen, to appoint by Proclamation to be made at the several Market-Crosses, and Parish-Churches, proper Places, and Times, within their respective Counties, where such Arms shall be delivered; and to appoint five or more Persons to receive and value the same upon Oath, and grant Receipts under their Hands for them, bearing the Names, Number, and Value of the Arms so delivered; which Oath, the said Lords Lieutenants, or their Deputies, or such other Persons commissioned, as aforesaid, are hereby required and impowered to administer: And if any of the Persons to be appointed to receive and value the said Arms, shall wilfully refuse to take the said Oath, or to receive or value the said Arms, every Person so refusing shall forfeit the Sum of One hundred Pounds Sterling; and within forty Days after the Receipt of such Arms, the Lords Lieutenants, or their Deputies, or such Persons commissioned, as aforesaid, are hereby commanded and required to transmit the same to such Places as his Majesty shall think fit to direct, with a signed List of the Names and Designations of the several Persons who delivered them, and their particular Values; and for the effectual Payment of the Value, the Collectors of the Land-Tax or Excise within the said Counties are hereby commanded and required to pat the Sums contained in the said Receipts, out of the first and readiest Monies that are in, or shall come to their Hands for the Use of the Publick: The which Receipts, indorsed by the Persons to whom they were first granted, are hereby ordered to be passed to the Credit of the said Collectors of the Land-Tax or Excise, at making up of their Accounts.
X. And whereas the prevailing Custom of convocating Numbers of his Majesty’s Subjects together, with the Practice of obliging them to perform divers Services, arbitrary and oppressive, by Virtue of Clauses in Charters, Contracts, or Agreements, within the Limits aforesaid, is contrary to the Nature of good Government, destructive to the Liberties of free People, inconsistent with the Obedience and Allegiance due to his Majesty and Government, as well as the greatest Obstruction to the Improvement of Trade, Husbandry, and Manufactories, and was one of the greatest Means of raising and carrying on the late unhappy Rebellion: Be it therefore enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the first Day of August, in the Year of our Lord, One thousand seven hundred and seventeen, and all Time thereafter, the annual Value of the Services, commonly called Personal Attendance, Hosting, Hunting, Watching, and Warding, due by Virtue of any Charter Contract, Custom, or Agreement whatsoever, shall be paid in Money annually instead of them.
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XII. And for preventing the like Abuses in Time to come, It is hereby enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That all Clauses in Charters, Contracts, or Agreements of any Sort, whereby the foresaid Services of personal Attendance, Hosting, Hunting, Watching, and Warding, are contracted to be payable, and for which a certain Sum of Money is ordered to be paid annually, as above, as well as all Obligations to pay the aforesaid Services and Attendance, which shall hereafter be contracted, shall, from and after the said first Day of August, One thousand seven hundred and seventeen, be void and null, and of no Effect in Law, and so remain in all Time to come.
– George I., 1st Year, Chapter 54, 1715.
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Section 17 of the 19th George II. provides for the dress. After the 1st of August 1747 it was unlawful for civilians, “on any pretence whatsoever, to wear or put on the clothes commonly called Highland Clothes, that is to say, the plaid, philibeg or little kilt, trowse, shoulder belts, or any part whatsoever of what peculiarly belongs to the Highland Garb; and that no Tartan or party-coloured Plaid, or Stuff, shall be used for Greatcoats or for upper Coats.” The penalty was, for a first offence, six months’ imprisonment; and seven years’ transportation for a second offence.*
As no provision was made for clothing those whom the legislature thus stripped, as the climate is severe and unfit for the cultivation of figs, and the people were poor; and as loyal districts were included, this might be called, “the Act for the un-civilization of the Highlands, and the profit of cloth workers.”
– Popular Tales, Vol. 4, pp.443-444.
* This Act of Parliament has been scanned in and transcribed so as to be searchable. The full Section reads;
“Whereas by an Act made in the Nineteenth Year of the Reign of His present Majesty, intituled, An Act for the more effectual disarming the Highlands in Scotland; and for more effectually securing the Peace of the said Highlands; and for restraining the Use of the Highland Dress; and for further indemnifying such Persons as have acted in Defence of His Majesty’s Person and Government, during the unnatural Rebellion; and for indemnifying the Judges and other Officers of the Court of Justiciary in Scotland, for not performing the Northern Circuit in May, One thousand seven hundred and forty six; and for obliging the Masters and Teachers of private Schools in Scotland, and Chaplains, Tutors, and Governors of Children or Youth, to take the Oaths to His Majesty, His Heirs, or Successors; and to register the same; it was amongst other Things enacted, That from and after the first Day of August, One thousand seven hundred and forty six, it should be lawful for the respective Lords Lieutenants of the several Shires of Dunbartain, Sterling, Perth, Kincardin, Aberdeen, Inverness, Nairn, Cromarty, Argyle, Forfar, Bamff, Sutherland, Caithness, Elgin, and Ross; and for such other Person or Persons as His Majesty, His Heirs, or Successors, should by His or Their Sign Manual, from time to time, think fit to authorize and appoint in that Behalf, to issue or cause to be issued out Letters of Summons in His Majesty’s Name, and under his or their respective Hands and Seals, directed to such Persons within the said several Shires and Bounds, as he or they from time to time shall think fit; thereby commanding and requiring all and every Person and Persons therein named, or inhabiting within the particular Limits therein described, to bring in, and deliver up, at a certain Time and Place, in such Summons to be mentioned, all and singular his and their Arms and Warlike Weapons. unto such Lord Lieutenant, or other Person or Persons so to be authorized or appointed in that Behalf as aforesaid, for the Use of His Majesty, His Heirs, or Successors, and to be disposed of in such Manner, as His Majesty, His Heirs, or Successors should appoint; and that if any Person or Persons in such Summons mentioned by Name, or inhabiting within the Limits therein described, should be convicted in Manner therein mentioned, of having or bearing any Arms or Warlike Weapons, after the Day prefixed in such Summons, every such Person or Persons should forfeit the Sum of Fifteen Pounds Sterling, and should be committed to Prison, until Payment of the said Sum; and if any Person or Persons convicted as aforesaid, should refuse or neglect to make Payment of the aforesaid Sum of Fifteen Pounds Sterling, within the Space of One Calendar Month from the Date of such Conviction, then any One or more of His Majesty’s Justices of the Peace, or the Judge Ordinary of the Place, where such Offender or Offenders was or were imprisoned (in case he or they shall judge such Offender or Offenders fit to serve His Majesty as a Soldier or Soldiers) were thereby respectively authorized and required to cause him or them to be delivered over to such Officer or Officers as is therein mentioned, to serve as Soldiers in any of His Majesty’s Forces in America: And that after reading the Articles of War against Mutiny and Desertion, and making such Entry and Certificate thereof as is thereby directed, every Person so delivered over should be deemed a listed Soldier to all Intents and Purposes, and should be subject to the Discipline of War, and in case of Desertion, should be punished as a Deserter; and that in case such Offender or Offenders should not be fit to serve His Majesty as aforesaid, then he or they should be imprisoned for the Space of Six Calendar Months, and also until he or they should give sufficient Security for his or their good Behaviour for the Space of Two Years from the giving thereof: In which said in Part recited Act is contained a Proviso, That no Peers of this Realm, nor their Sons, nor any Members of Parliament, nor any Person or Persons, who, by virtue of an Act of Parliament made in the First Year of the Reign of His late Majesty King George the First, therein recited or referred to, were allowed to have or carry Arms, notwithstanding the Prohibition in the said Act contained, of having, wearing, or bearing Arms, should be liable to be summoned to deliver up their Arms or Warlike Weapons; and that neither the said recited Act of the Nineteenth of His present Majesty, nor the said Act of the First Year of His said late Majesty therein referred to, should be construed to extend to exclude or hinder any Person, whom His Majesty, His Heirs, or Successors, by Licence under His or their Sign Manual, should permit to have or wear Arms, or who should be licensed to wear Arms, by any Writing or Writings under the Hand and Seal, or Hands and Seals of any Person or Persons authorized by His Majesty, His Heirs, or Successors, to give such Licence for keeping, bearing, or wearing such Arms and Warlike Weapons, as in such Licence or Licences should for that Purpose be particularly specified: And it was thereby further enacted, That from and after the First Day of August, One thousand seven hundred and forty seven, no Man or Boy within that Part of Great Britain called Scotland, other than such as should be employed as Officers and Soldiers in His Majesty’s Forces, should, on any Pretence whatsoever, wear or put on the Clothes commonly called Highland Clothes; that is to say, the Plaid, Philibeg, or Little Kilt, Trowse, Shoulder Belts, or any Part whatsoever of what peculiarly belongs to the Highland Garb; and that no Tartan or parti-coloured Plaid or Stuff should be used for Great Coats, or for Upper Coats, under the Penalties therein mentioned: And it was thereby further enacted, That from and after the First Day of November, One thousand seven hundred and forty six, no Person should exercise the Employment, Function, or Service of a Chaplain in any Family in that Part of Great Britain called Scotland, or of a Governor, Tutor, or Teacher of any Child, Children, or Youth residing in Scotland, or in Parts beyond the Seas, without first qualifying himself by taking the Oaths thereby directed and appointed, and causing a Certificate of his having so done to be entered or registered as is therein directed, under the Pains and Penalties therein mentioned: And that it should not be lawful for any Person in Scotland to keep a private School for teaching English, Latin, Greek, or any Part of Literature, or to officiate as a Master or Teacher in such School for Literature, other than as therein mentioned, until the Situation and Description of such private School be first entered and registered, with a Certificate of his having qualified himself by taking the Oaths appointed by Law as therein mentioned; and such Master or Teacher is thereby required, as often as Prayers shall be said in such School, to pray, or cause to be prayed for, in express Words, His Majesty, His Heirs, and Successors, by Name: And whereas it hath been found by Experience, that so much of the said Act as is herein before recited is not sufficient or effectual to answer the Purposes thereby intended, and that it is necessary to enforce the same by some new Provisions and Regulations; be it therefore enacted by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of same, That it shall and may be lawful for the respective Lieutenants of any of the Fifteen Shires in the said recited Act for that Purpose named, and for such other Person or Persons as in pursuance of the same Act hath or have been authorized by His Majesty, or shall hereafter be authorized by His Majesty, His Heirs, or Successors, to issue out Letters of Summons for the delivering of Arms and Warlike Weapons as is therein mentioned, to nominate and appoint by Writing under their respective Hands and Seals, such Person or Persons as they respectively shall think fit to receive the Arms or Warlike Weapons so to be delivered up in Obedience to any such Summons from any Person or Persons so delivering up the same at the Days and Places to be for that Purpose mentioned in any such Summons, and the Person or Persons so nominated or appointed to receive any such Arms or Warlike Weapons, shall transmit, or cause the same to be transmitted to such Place or Places as such Lieutenant or other Person authorized as aforesaid shall direct and appoint; and all and every Person and Persons, obliged by the said recited Act to deliver up his, her, or their Arms or Warlike Weapons, shall incur the like Penalties and Forfeitures, and be subject to the same Punishments respectively, for having or bearing Arms or Warlike Weapons after the Day prefixed in any such Summons, issued in pursuance of the said recited Act, and this present Act, as he, she, or they are by the said recited Act made subject or liable to for having or bearing Arms or Warlike Weapons, contrary to the true Intent and Meaning of the said recited Act.
…
And whereas the Time for the Commencement of such Part of the said recited Act, as relates to the restraining the Use of the Highland Dress, was, by an Act made in the Twentieth Year of His present Majesty’s Reign, enlarged, as to all Persons not being Landed Men, until the First Day of August, One thousand seven hundred and forty eight: And whereas the Provision made by the said recited Act is necessary to be carried into Execution; but it is reasonable to give some further Time and Opportunity for performing some Parts thereof: It is hereby enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the Time given and appointed by the said last-mentioned Act for the Purposes therein mentioned, shall be, and the same is by this present Act enlarged (as to all those who are not Landed Men, or the Sons of Landed Men) from the First Day of August, One thousand seven hundred and forty eight, till the First Day of August, One thousand seven hundred and forty nine.”
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On the 1st of August, 1765, the contract for the erection of the [North] bridge was signed, the parties being the magistrates of Edinburgh on the one hand, and on the other William Mylne, architect, descendant of the hereditary Master Masons of Scotland, and brother of Robert Mylne. The work was to be completed by Martinmas, 1769, and to be upheld for ten years, for the sum of £10,140; but of the great sum which it is said to have cost, viz., £28,000, after selling the areas, on the east, west, and at the south end, which drew about £3,000, there remained £25,000 of nett expenditure.
– Old and New Edinburgh, pp.334-340.
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WHEREAS by an Act, made in the Nineteenth year of the Reign of His late Majesty King George the Second, intituled, An Act for the more effectual disarming the Highlands in Scotland, and for more effectually securing the Peace of the said Highlands; and for restraining the Use of the Highland Dress; and for further indemnifying such Persons as have acted in Defence of His Majesty’s Person and Government, during the unnatural Rebellion; and for indemnifying the Judges and other Officers of the Court of Justiciary in Scotland, for not performing the Northern Circuit in May, One thousand seven hundred and forty-six; and for obliging the Masters and Teachers of private Schools in Scotland, and Chaplains, Tutors, and Governors of Children or Youth, to take the Oaths to His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, and top register the same; it was, among other Things, enacted, That, from and after the First Day of August, One thousand seven hundred and forty-seven, no Man or Boy, within that Part of Great Britain called Scotland, other than such as should be employed as Officers and Soldiers in His Majesty’s Forces, should, on any Pretence whatsoever, wear or put on the Clothes, commonly called Highland Clothes; (that is to say), The Plaid, Philebeg or little Kilt, Trowse, Shoulder Belts, or any Part whatsoever of what peculiarly belongs to the Highland Garb, and that no Tartan, or Party-coloured Plaid or Stuff, should be used for Great Coats or for Upper Coats, under the Penalties therein mentioned; and the Time appointed for laying aside the Highland Dress was, in certain Cases therein mentioned, further prolonged by Two several Acts, One made in the Twentieth, and the other in the Twenty-first Year of the Reign of His said late Majesty King George the Second: And whereas it is judged expedient that so much of the Acts above mentioned as restrains the Use of the Highland Dress should be repealed: Be it therefore enacted by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That so much of the Acts above mentioned, or any other Act or Acts of Parliament, as restrains the Use of the Highland Dress, be, and the same are hereby repealed.
– George III., 21st Year, Chapter 63, 1782.
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The foundation stone of the [South] bridge was laid on the 1st of August, 1785, by George Lord Haddo, Grand Master Mason of Scotland, attended by the brethren of all the lodges in town, and the magistrates and council in their robes, who walked in procession from the Parliament House, escorted by the soldiers of the City Guard – those grim old warriors, who, says Lord Cockburn, “had muskets and bayonets, but rarely used them.”
– Old and New Edinburgh, pp.373-382.
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At the 1st of August, 1877, the total expenditure [of the Edinburgh trustees] was £442,621 18s. 6d.; receipts, £265,599 18s. 3d.; the unrecovered outlay, £177,022 0s. 3d.; and the amount to the credit of the sinking fund account, £6,752 14s. 10d.
– Old and New Edinburgh, pp.258-266.
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This is a great wee Mauchline Ware edition of Sir Walter Scott’s epic poem ‘Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field’ I obtained a few years ago. I’ve only read maybe a third of it so far. The text is tiny and could be hard on the eyes depending on light. It’s inscribed “Abbotsford, Aug 1. 1890”, but I don’t know if that means it belonged to someone living on Scott’s former estate.
– ‘Marmion’ (Mauchline Ware).
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It was only after he became acquainted with the formula A that he was able to read the whole.1 According to Prof. Napier the [Thebal amulet] charm is written in an eleventh century hand.
M.
Boro berto briore + Vulnera quinque dei sint medicina mei + Tahebal +
+ Guthman + + + Onthman + + + + + Purld crampri + Cristus
+ factus + est + pro + nobis + obediens + vsque + ad +
mortem + mortem + autem + crucis. + …
– Scots Lore, pp.61-78.
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