23rd of November

St Clement, pope and martyr, 100. St Amphilochius, bishop of Iconium, confessor, 100. St Daniel, bishop and confessor, 545. St Tron, confessor, 693.

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Died. – Louis, Duke of Orleans, brother of Charles VI., assassinated at Paris, 1407; Antoine François Prevot, novelist, 1763, Forest of Chantilly; Thomas Henderson, professor of astronomy, &c., 1844.

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On this Day in Other Sources.

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The Queen and all her train, shipped in Denmark for Scotland, but by contrary winds were forced to land in [Upslo (now Christiania)] sound, in Norway, where the frost did constrain them to winter. But the King, [James VI,] impatient of his Queen’s stay, took [a] ship at Leith, the 23rd day of November, this same year, [1589,] and safely arrived in Norway, where the Queen was; who both shortly after their meeting, went back to Denmark, and there was the marriage solemnly consumated, with great feasting and triumph; where he stayed until the month of May thereafter. During his absence, by his commission, Ludovic [Stewart], Duke of Lennox, and Francis [Stewart], Earl of Bothwell, were appointed governors of the realm until his return, by advice and consent of the Lords of his majesty’s privy counsel. 

– Historical Works, pp.340-416.

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On the 23rd of [November, 1592], there was emitted a state proclamation, inhibiting all his Majesty’s subjects to receive, harbour, entertain or use the society of the Countess of Bothwell, under the pain of death. 

– Historical Works, pp.340-416.

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In a lawsuit, pending 23rd November, 1735, Thomas Gibson of Durie, agent for Foulis of Woodhall, writes to his employer thus:- “I have spoken to Strachan, and several of the lords, who are all surprised Sir F. (Francis Kinloch, Bart., of Gilmerton) should stand that plea. By Lord St. Clair’s advice, Mrs. Kinloch is to wait on Lady Cairnie to-morrow, to cause her to ask the favour of Lady St. Clair to solicit Lady Betty Elphingston (Elizabeth Primrose of Carrington) and Lady Dun. My lord promises to back his lady, and to ply both their lords; also Leven and his cousin Murkle (a Lord of Session in 1733). He is your good friend, and wishes success; he is jealous Mrs. Mackie will side with her cousin Beattie. St. Clair says Leven has only once gone wrong upon his hand since he was a Lord of Session. Mrs. Kinloch has been with Miss Pringle, Newhall. Young Dr. Pringle is a good agent there, and discourses Lord Newhall strongly on the law of nature.” 

– Old and New Edinburgh, pp.166-173.

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   “… The question was whether they would get their business managed better in a Scottish assembly or in an assembly managed in London, where the Scottish members constituted scarcely more than one-tenth of the whole. As regarded efficiency, it needed no argument to show that an assembly of Scotsmen having nothing to do but manage Scottish business must necessarily do it better than an assembly which contained, as he had said, only one-tenth of its members Scotsmen, which had to legislate for a population ten times more numerous than Scotland, and which had, besides, the whole burden of Imperial affairs to carry. The Legislature could no more make laws without time – and the Imperial Parliament had not got time – than the Israelites of old could make bricks without straw. (Applause.) If the Union, he continued, had to be made now, no Scotsmen would ever dream of surrendering State rights. That Treaty established that Scottish autonomy should be protected by a continued self-denying ordinance on the part of the English members. Therefore if Scotsmen adopted Home Rule or applied the federal principle they should be substituting a perfect for an imperfect mode of carrying out the purposes of that Treaty. It would not be a repeal of the Union, but it would be for the first time the realisation of the whole designs of the authors of the Treaty. Dr Hunter then went on to say that the great complaint was that the Imperial Parliament was overburdened with work, the result being that it was very perfunctorily discharged. Changes of procedure, he said, would do little to remedy the evil. The true remedy was to delegate the powers which Parliament could not beneficially use to those who could do so, and to restrict the functions of the Imperial Parliament to imperial business. This was the simple and obvious remedy.”  

– Scotsman, Tuesday 23rd November, 1886.

– Treaty of Union Articles, 1875-1900.