Lives of the Lindsays; Or, a Memoir of the Houses of Crawford and Balcares. in Three Volumes (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: race, and was one of the Magnates Scotise who acknowledged Margaret of Norway, grand-daughter of Alexander, as the heiress apparent of Scotland, in the celebrated convention at Scone in February, 1283-4, t but disappears in 1289, when Sir Alexander takes his place, as chief of the race, in the convention at Brigham, after the death of King Alexander,J when the storm was already beginning to threaten the independence of Scotland. SECTION IV. Hitherto, you will have observed, there had been constant and friendly intercourse between Scotland and England,many barons held lands on both sides of the Tweed, and many a border minstrel might have begun his lay, like Albert Graeme, with " It was an English lady bright, The sun shines fair on Carlisle wall ! And she would marry a Scottish knight, For Love will still be Lord of all." The fact was, that the nobles, whether of England or Scotland, were as yet neither English nor Scottish, but Norman. Nationality, at least in Scotland, there was little or none,the charters of the kings (as I have already observed) are addressed to " French, English, Scots," the latter name being restricted to the Celtic population. Each race was living distinct and apart, the Saxon and Norman indeed assimilated and fused to a considerable degree, and more so perhaps than in England, but the Celtic or more genuine Scottish stock, the heirs of all the ancient traditions of the country, standing proudly aloof. Nothing could have brought about the fusion of these different races, or created a spirit of nationality and patriotism, so effectually as an attack He is Chamberlain in May, 1278, Chart. Dunfermline, p. 52,2 Oct. 1279, ibid., p. 52,4 July, 1280, Charter printed in Raine's N. Durham, App. No. 77, and probably, says Crawford, continue...