Scottish Text Society publications > Old series > Historie of Scotland > Volume 1, 1888

THE HISTORIE OF SCOTLAND.
53
Vpon the Water of Tai sal je sie a notable tonne baith
in number of citterns, and cowmoditie of the hauimng
place, to name Dundie, sumtyme called Alectu;;/.
quhilke abeit it be nocht esteimed the richest, it may
S weil be esteimed the neist riche: Nether sal ^e weil
discerne, quither thay be richer in outlandis geir, and
merchandise, or in thair awne labour and # Industrie,
quhen throuch the awne schipis and sailing, it lykwyse
is riche, t Mairouer because Riches, ofspring and
io plesures, as oft hes bene vsed and sene, with sindrie
and strange natiounis, lychtlie corruptes the godlie in-
stitutiounis of our Elderis, (as we sie this day) and
lykwyse the gudnes of lyfe or gude maneris, as we say,
X Dundie, in latine Deidonuw, the gift of God, walde be
15 called in Scottis: Bot now, I say, Dundie, co«trare the
Etymologie or true interpretatioune of the name, was
the first amang ws suspecte of hseresie. of quhilke eftir-
ward we wil speik mair at large: Is in Angus mairouer
the toune of Brichine, and thair a Bischopis sait, bot the
20 eldest toune in al that cuntrey to name is Forfare, and
of grettest priuelege and authoritie, quhair is § ane
Jugeme/zt sait, and Justice courte haldne, and power to
Juge, bot now redacted to pouertie, of na reputatiozze is
haldne, bot brocht to nocht. Amang the monasteris
25 heir in Angus ar twa mair notable than the rest, to wit
Dundei or
Deidonuw.
Brichine a
Bischopis
sait.
The toun
of Forfare.
The monas¬
teris Arbroth
and Cuper.
* L. “ Lanificio ”—wool trade.
+ L. “ quoniam divitiae, et earum proles delicise, sicut et crebra
cum exteris, iisdemque variis, gentibus, consuetudo facile corrum-
punt,” &c.—but since riches, and their offspring luxury, and frequent
intercourse with foreign and different nations, easily corrupt the
good ways of our ancestors, &c.
J L. “Deidonum, contra nominis etymon, primum apud nos,”
&c.—Deidonum (the gift of God), in opposition to the meaning of its
name, first among us fell under suspicion of heresy. Deidonum seems
a fanciful inversion of Dondei, or Dondie. Leslie, however, so spells
the name consistently throughout the Latin text. The oldest spell¬
ing I can find is Dunde.
§ L. “ubi et hodie juris dicendi potestas residet ”—where the
courts of Justice are still held,