27th of August – Summer-eve Fair

St Pœman or Pastor, abbot, about 451. St Cæsarius, archbishop of Arles, confessor, 542. St Syagrius, bishop of Autun, 600. St Malrubius, hermit and martyr in Scotland, about 1040. St Joseph Calasanctius, confessor, 1648.

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Died. – Pope Sixtus V., 1590; James Thomson, poet, 1748, Richmond; J. H. Foley, R.A., eminent sculptor, 1874.

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On this Day in Other Sources.

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The ‘Summer-eve fair,’ known by that strange and unmeaning name in several places of the North, is now traced through the Scotch Breviary, and by the help of Mr. Reeves and his Irish learning, to its origin in honour and memory of St. Malruba (Saint Malruve – Summareve), the monk of Bangor, who placed his Christian colony on the wild shore of Applecross, and was had in reverence in Contin and Glen Urquhart. His festival in Scotland was held on the 27th of August. 

– Sketches, pp.1-28.

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The following transfer was recently discovered in a bundle of old parchments. It is dated in 1545, and relates to the lands of Meikle Cowcaddens which adjoin the ancient royalty of Glasgow. The rentaller had borrowed money on the security of his right by way of wadset, showing that not only sale but also mortgage was permissible, and the writ accordingly takes the form of an assignment of the granter’s right of reversion:-

AT Glasw the xxvij day of August the ʒeir of God ane thousand five hundreth fourtty five ʒeris. It is appunctuat, contrakit, agreit, and finalie endit betwixt ane honourable man Andro Campbell, burges of Glasgw, and Marion Gayne, his spouse, on the ta pairt, and Jhone Wallace, burges of Glasgw, on the tother pairt, in maner, form, and effect as eftir followis, that is to say the said Jhone Wallace hes mayd, and be the tenour heirof makis the saidis Andro and Marion, his spouse, his warray lawfull cessionaris, donatouris, and assignais irrevocable to redeme and lowse the mayling and land of the Mekle Cowcaldanys and the said Jhone kyndnes thairof, extending to xiij s. iiij d. land of my lord of Glasgw land liand within the barony thairof. Of the quhilk xiij s. iiij d. land the said Jhone Walles analit and wodset his kyndnes to Jhone Jhonsone in Stokwell upon the sowme of fourtty pundis of mony. And the said Jhone Walles is content that the said Andro and his spouse foirsaid be rentalit in the said malyng and to occupy, mannyr,1 bruik and joys the said xiij s. iiij d. land, and be put in my lordis of Glasgow rentail thairof; and the said Jhone Wallace sall compeir befoir my lord of Glasgow and consent to the saidis Andro and Marion rentaling, the said Andro payand my lord of Glasgw his dewiteis and fermes auchand to him allanerlie; gevand, grantand and committand to the saidis Andro and his spouse, my donatoures, cessionares and assignais, all my rycht, titill, claym, properte, and posessioun that I the said Jhone hes had or mycht have in and to my said favouris and kyndnes and rycht of the said xiij s. iiij d. land of Mekle Cowcaldanys; with full power to the saidis Andro and his spouse to occupy, mannyr, and jois the said kyndnes, favoures, and benevolence of the said land, and convert the sammyng to thair awin utilite and proffet efter thair rentaling in the said land; wyth all wther necessar and neidfull clausis in the maist sickirast form; haldand and for to hald ferm and stable and and syndry my said cessionaris and assignais ledis to be doyne in thir premissis, under the payne of perjure, and all my gudis movable and unmovable present and for to cum. And for mair verificatioun and keiping heirof I haif gevin my bodely aitht, the haly evangilist twichit.

– Scots Lore, pp.397-399.

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To Stirling was she accompanied, by Randolph, and followed by John Knox. She learned here, that Elizabeth was preparing forces against her relations, in France; that many of her own subjects were about to join the English army, without her assent, or knowledge. Under the influence of such mortifying notices, she set out on horseback, with a part of her train, for Aberdeen, where she arrived on the 27th of August [1562]; and where she remained till the first of September. 

– Life of Mary, pp.62-77.

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On the 27th of August 1563, queen Mary visited Dunoon, where she slept and spent the following day. This was during the progress she made through the western counties. She had previously been entertained for three days at Inverary by the countess of Argyll. 

– Select Views, pp.121-126.

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Little more than three years onward (August 27, 1576), it was declared that this act had ‘wantit execution’ – a very common misfortune to acts of council in those days; and it was found that ‘the said idle vagabonds [gypsies] has continuit in their wicked and mischievous manner of living, committing murders, theft, and abusing the simple and ignorant people with sorcery and divination.’ Men in authority were now enjoined to stricter courses with these wanderers, on pain of being held as their accomplices. 

– Domestic Annals, pp.56-80.

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Quitting Perth at the head of little more than 2,000 men,¹ only the half of whom had arms, [Charles Edward], on the 11th September, resumed his adventurous march southward, and crossing the Forth by the perilous fords of Frew, to avoid the guns of Stirling, he held on his way by the Scottish Marathon, by the Torwood and Linlithgow, traversing scenes that he, the heir of the ancient regal line, could not have beheld without emotion, engaged, as he was, on an enterprise more daring and more desperate than had ever been undertaken by any of his ancestors since Bruce fought the battle of Dalry. 

– Old and New Edinburgh, pp.322-329. 

¹  A true account of the strength of the Highland army, 27th August, 1745  

(“Culloden Papers.”)

“The Highlanders were not more than 1,800, and the half of them only were armed.” (“Autobiography of Dr. Carlyle of Inveresk.”)

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When George IV. Visited Edinburgh in August, 1822, he ordered Rob Roy to be played at this house on the 27th, and scenes such as it had never presented before were exhibited both within and without the edifice. At an early hour in the morning vast crowds assembled at every door, and the rain which fell in torrents till six in the evening had no effect in diminishing their numbers, and when the doors were slowly opened, the rush for a moment was so tremendous that most serious apprehensions were entertained, but no lives were lost; while the boxes had been let in such a way as to preclude all reasonable ground of complaint. In the pit and galleries the audience were so closely packed, that it would have been difficult, according to eye-witnesses, to introduce even the point of a sabre between any two. All the wealth, rank, and beauty of Scotland, filled the boxes, and the waving of tartan plaids and plumed bonnets produced hurricanes of acclamation long before the arrival of the king, who occupied a species of throne in the centre, and behind him stood the Marquis of Montrose, the Earl of Fife, and other nobles. He wore the uniform of a marshal, and at his entrance nearly the entire audience joined the orchestra in the national anthem. 

– Old and New Edinburgh, pp.348-352.