Montgomery manuscripts

442
The Montgomery Manuscripts.
Another occasion and Account is given in y e Scottish History of a contryman who Cutt K.
Robert y" third (commonly called y" bleerd Eye) out of his mothers belly : when as (by a fall from
her horse) at hunting she dyed in y e feild. This King (hunting in those grounds) was informed of
y" Story, and sent for y" man, and seeming to be angry for the Scarr on his eyes, (which had gott-
ten him y" nickname aforesayd) questioned him what he Sayd, when he urged and took upon him-
self to doe y" office of a midwife : The poor man trembleing, Answered, y* he told y e nobility, and
Howells Lon- confessed he was but a Semple man (as they then called him), but y' God putt it in his mind, y l he
dinopolis : K. should save a Kings Life, and soe he had y 6 courage to doe as he did begging his Ma* 78 Pardon
Ed. y 8 4"> gave & ' . . . . .
y e surname of for y e Scarr he had given him unwittingly. King Robert did then impose y e surname of Semple on
™P™ L°ttle-' r y" man & h' s posterity; and gave them y e Lands of Southenan and y° title of Lord Semple,
burye, because which they enjoy in the West of Scotland to this day."s
excellent win- Some Familys have had their Surnames from their offices, as y" Stewards, Butlers, Mershalls,
der of a horn Constabl &c _
at hunting.
sentativesofthis family have often distinguished themselves
subsequently in their country's history. By the assistance of
the Hays, chiefly, Robert Bruce won the decisive battle of
Barra, in 1 308. For this service the family of Erroll soon
afterwards obtained a grant from the crown of the parishes
of Cruden and Slains, and portions of the parishes of Lo-
gie Buchan, Ellon, and Udny. The chief of the family
was also appointed by Bruce to the office of hereditary
great constable of Scotland, the charter for this appoint-
ment (which is still preserved at Slains castle), being
dated at Cambuskenneth, 12th November, 13 16. The
earl of Erroll, in virtue of his distinguished office, is by
birth the first subject in Scotland ; and, in right of this
privilege, on state occasions where the sovereign is pre-
sent, he takes precedence of all the other Scottish peers. —
Abridged from Scottish Journal 'of 'Topography, &c, vol. i.,
pp. 387, 388.
5 West of Scotland to this day. — The celebrated house
of Sempill, Semple, or Sympill, appeared so early as the
reign of Alexander II. , but its chief honours and possessions
were acquired in the time of Robert Bruce, who granted
to Robert Sympill ' the haill land of Southennan, which
was the lairdship of the late John Balliol, with the com-
mon pasturage of the Lairgs, to be held by him and his
heirs, in a free barony, paying us a silver pennie yearly, at
the feast of Pentecost." About the year 1330, or 1340,
William Sympill obtained a grant from the crown of the
barony of Elliotstoun, parish of Lochunioch in Strathgryfe.
The Sympills of Elliotstoun were bailies and chamberlains
of the barony of Renfrew under the high stewards of Scot-
land, and were afterwards advanced to the office of here-
ditary sheriffs of Renfrew, from the year 1406, when that
district was erected into a distinct county. — Scottish Jour-
nal of Topography, &°c. , vol. ii. . p. 292, note. The story
told in the text, and popularly believed in Scotland even
to this day, has reference to the birth of Robert II., not
Robert III., as here stated. The death of Marjory Bruce,
the king's mother, popularly known as Queen Blcarie, is
believed to have been caused by a fall from her horse,
whilst hunting, between Paisley and the castle of Renfrew,
on Shrove Tuesday, the second of March, 131 5-16 ; and
the popular story further affirms that her child (Robert II.)
was brought info the world by the Cocsarean operation,
performed on the spot by a simple peasant.' Crawford in
his History of Renfrewshire, p. 41, records this legend as
follows : — " At this place, in the lands of Knox, there is
a high Cross standing, called Queen Blearie's Cross ; but
no inscription is legible. Tradition hath handed down,
that it was erected on this occasion — Marjory Bruce,
daughter of the renowned Robert I., and wife of Walter,
great Steward of Scotland, at that time lord of this conntry,
being hunting at this place, was thrown from her horse,
and by the fail suffering a dislocation of the vertebra of
her neck, died on the spot. She being pregnant, fell in
labour of King Robert II.; the child or Joetus was a
Casar. The operation being by an unskilful hand, his
eye being touched by the instrument, could not be cured ;
from which he was called King Blcarie. This, according
to our historians, fell out in the year 131 7." Lord Hailes
has remorselessly demolished this tradition by the statement
of a few facts. Thus, Fordun and Major record the birth
of Robert II., but say nothing of the strange circumstances
associated with that event in the popular story. Barbour,
who wrote during the reign of that king, and Winton,
whose chronicle was compiled soon after the death of
Robert III., are wholly silent as to the matters related by
Crawfurd, and so also are Bellenden, Lesley, and
Buchanan. Hector Boece not only omits any mention of
this story, but expresses himself in words wholly incon-
sistent with it Speaking of Marjory Bruce, or Stewart,
he mentions that she died leaving a son yet a child. But
why should this lady be called a Queen because her son
became a King fifty-seven years after her death, or why
should she be called Blear-eye because her son was so
nicknamed when advanced in life, having had a remark-
able inflammation in one of his eyes? Lord Hailes
conjectures that Robert II. got the nickname of Blear-eye
subsequently to the death of Robert III., to distinguish
him from the latter, who was known as Robert Faranyeir,
or the late Robert. Hailes farther thinks it improbable
that the lady should have been hunting on horseback so
near the time of her confinement ; and that beingi
Roman Catholic, she was not likely to be so employed on
Shrove- Tuesday. See his Annals of Scotland, vol. ii.,
pp. 339-344 ; see also Archaologia Scotica, pp. 456-
461,