Series 5 > Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, Volume 12

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MISCELLANY XII
When we were at our meeting at the blew posts in Hay Mercate Lt Col[one]l
Stuarts' footman was in Sir Geofrge] Bing’s2 way who without speaking a word
threw him over on the stair. The poor footman said Sir if you had spoken I
would have gone out of the way upon which Sir Geo[rge] with his sword struk
him over the head and then run him in the shoulder. The poor man was going
away, but seing his blood and hearing the chairmen and footmen cry knock
him down he run after Sir Geo[rge] and with his staffbeat him so soundly that
he left him for dead all over bloody. Sir Geo[rge] had no servant with him so
that he lay a lide while ere any body medled with him but then they carried
him to his lodging which was near.
GD45/14/352/18
28 May [1713] at 10 at night
Sir, I have not time to say the half of what I could. This day Seafield moved
that monday next might be appoynted to take into considera[tio]n the State
of the na[tio]n and Eglinton seconded him. So it was appoynted at a meeting
of our peers yesternight where Eglinton was rare company being a litle drunk
as having dined with Bolingbroke at Roseberrys lodgings. Seafield being bid
drink his own health, Drunk the E[arl] of Findlaters a much honester man than
the Earl of Seafield.3 In a word munday is appoynted.
I refer you to other letters for the noble behaviour of all our Commons who
this day joyned the whiggs against the Court in a bill capacitating Quaken to
vote in Elec[tio]ns and carried it only by 19 or there about which shows how
we can cast the balance.4 Afterwards Lechmere,3 Sir Peter King6 and other
famous whiggs carried a bill for us.7 But I must give over.
The Treasurer in the house said to me, and you also are bite, you have the
toothach and to cure it you would cut off your head, and so he went off. This
day he made a noble and Cunning speech in ans[we]r to Wharton, Coupar
and Halifax about the treaty of Commerce, which he said had in it great
1 Brigadier John Stewart (c.1673-1748) of Sotbie, Argathelian Whig MP Wigtownshire 1708-10,
1711-27.
2 Admiral Sir George Byng (1664-1733), MP Plymouth 1705-21. Lockhart also records this story: Letters
of Lockhart of Camwath, 79.
3 Seafield had succeeded to the earldom of Findlater in 1711.
4 The vote was 129 to 112 that the act enabling Quakers to affirm instead of taking an oath, which was
due to expire, should continue (CJ, xvii, 384-5).
5 Nicholas Lechmere (1675-1727), MP Cockermouth.
6 Sir Peter King (1669-1734), MP Bere Alston.
7 Possibly a reference to a decision of the Commons to continue the Act of Charles II ‘preventing Theft
and Rapine upon the Northern Borders of England’ (C/, xvii, 384).