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\centerline{\bigtitle The Honours Three}
\vskip 2pc
\centerline{---{}---{}---{}---{}---}
\vskip 1pc
\centerline{\sciii By JOHN STIRLING}
\vskip 1pc
\centerline{---{}---{}---{}---{}---}
\vskip 2pc

At the festive season of the year many a
toast is pledged ``Wi' a the Honours Three,''
often by those who are unaware of the true
significance of the phrase.

It may be interesting to not a few to
learn something of how the Regalia of Scotland
was saved at Dunottar Castle, and how a
woman's pluck and coolness prevented the
Crown, the Septre, and the Sword---``The
Honours Three''---from falling into the hands
of the Republican Soldiers.

At the advent of the Union, it was
confidently believed by many English statesmen
that the Scottish Regalia would be
conveyed to the Tower of London.  This did
not take place, however, for the Regalia---%
consisting of Crown, Septre, and Sword---were
placed in a large wooden chest, and deposited
in the Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle.

% page 2

In 1650, after being used at the Coronation
of Charles II., the national symbols were
removed, for greater safety, to the Earl
Mareschal's Castle, of Dunottar, at Stonehaven,
in Kincardineshire.  At this time,
however, the Earl was a prisoner in England,
and the defence of the Castle was entrusted
to his friend, Captain George Ogilvie, of
Barras, when Cromwell's soldiers advanced
northwards.

This same Captain had a garrison of 100
men---all stout fellows---and attached to their
commander---for whom they would have laid
down the lives;\thinspace but Captain Ogilvie well
knew that if it came to an attack, his little
band would never be able to stand out
against the force which Cromwell would send
against him.

In order to preserve ``Scotland's Honours
Three,'' it was determined to resort to
strategy.  On the advice of the Dowager
Countess Mareschal, Mrs Granger, wife of  % sic. Conntess
the Rev. William Granger, minister of Kineff,
asked permission of the English Commander
to pass through his lines, in order to visit the
Governor's wife (Mrs Ogilvie) in the Castle.
The request was granted, and Mrs Granger
and her maid paid a short visit to Dunottar
Castle.

On returning they each carried a parcel\thinspace;
but as it was thought that it was merely some
% page 3
present they had got from the Governor's wife,
no notice was taken of it.  In fact, Major-%
General Gordon, who commanded the besieging
army, very politely assisted Mrs Granger
to mount her horse, whilst she was carrying
in her lap the Scottish Crown tied amongst a
lot of clothes.  The ladies, after covering
some distance in a slow and decorous manner,
so as not to create suspicion, finally fled as
fast as possible to the manse of Kineff---about
five miles distant.

\vskip 1pc
The purpose of the visit is best told by a
letter which the minister himself supplied to
the Dowager Countess\thinspace :---

\leftskip=30pt

\noindent\llap{``}I, William James Granger, minister of
Kineff, grant me to have in my custody
the Honours of the Kingdom, namely,
the Crown, Septre, and Sword.  For the
Crown and Septre, I raised the pavement
stone, just before the pulpit, in the night
time, and digged under it one hole, and
layed down the stone, just as it was
before, and removed the mould that
remained, that none could have
discovered the stone to have been removed
at all.

\noindent\llap{``}The Sword, again, at the west end of the
Church, amongst some common seats
that stand there, I digged down in the
ground, betwixt the two foremost of these
seats, and layed it down at the side of
% page 4
them, and covered it up so that by
removing the superfluous mould it could
not be discovered by anybody.

\noindent\llap{``}And if it shall please God to call me to
death, before they be called for, your
Ladyship will find then in that place.---%
William James Granger, 31st March,
1652.''

\leftskip=0pt
\vskip 6pt
On the surrender of the Castle to Crom\-well's
soldiers, and when it was found that
Captain Ogilvie, the Lieutenant-Governor, or
his lady, could or would give no account of
the Regalia, they were treated with great
severity, being dragged from one prison to
another.

Captain Ogilvie's wife died two years
later, attributed no doubt partly as the
result of the treatment she received, and she
enjoined her husband on her deathbed to
preserve the secret.

In order to throw Cromwell's soldiers
on to a wrong track, the Countess Mareschal
circulated a report that the Regalia had been
taken to Paris by her son, the Hon. Sir John
Keith, and delivered to Charles II., and on
that young gentleman's return to Scotland
he supported his mother's story, although his
life was in danger.

The faithful clergyman and his wife from
time to time secretly lifted the jewels and
% page 5
wrapped them anew in cloth, lest they should
become tarnished by damp, and this they did,
though suspicion at one time fell upon them.
It is also said that they were tortured in order to
get them to confess.

At the Restoration, in 1660, the Regalia
were lifted and restored to Charles II.  Sir
John Keith was created Earl of Kintore, and
Captain Ogilvie, the Lieutenant-Governor of
Dunottar, was made a Baronet.

The brave wife of the minister of Kineff
was not forgotten, and was rewarded with a
grant of 2000 merks Scot.  A merk, I may
say, is an old Scottish silver coin, worth 1s 1d
in our present day money---2000 merks at that
time was considered a large sum of money.

The ``Honours Three'' were then returned
to their former resting place of keeping, in
the Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle, where
they were lost trace of for a long period of
years---namely, till the year 1818.

Prior to the period when the National
Records were kept in the Register House,
they were secured in hogs-heads in what was
known as the Laigh Parliament House, the
northern wall of which bordered the damp
earth of St. Giles' Churchyard.

Many volumes, through gross carelessness,
went amissing about this time.  At last
% page 6
a royal warrant was obtained to visit the
Throne Room to see what volumes were still
intact.  In the course of the search there
was found, in an arched chamber, and resting
under several inches of dust, a large oaken
chest.  Everyone was anxious to know what
it contained\thinspace; and as the public mind was
uneasy to know about the Regalia, Sir Walter
Scott, who was a great friend of the then
Prince Regent, obtained leave to make a
thorough search.  This took place on 4th
February, 1818.

No key being found to fit the lock of
the chest referred to, the King's smith, who
was in attendance, was commanded to force
open the lid of the great chest.

The general impression that the Regalia
had been secretly moved weighed heavily
on the hearts of those present.  While the
labour proceeded the chest seemed to return
a hollow and empty sound to the strokes of the
hammer.  Even those, whose expectation had
been most sanguine, felt the probability of
bitter disappointment, and could not but be
sensible that, should the result of the search
confirm their forebodings, it would serve to
show that a National affront---an injury---%
had been sustained, for which it might be
impossible to obtain redress.

The joy was extreme when the ponderous
lid of the chest, having been laid open, at the
% page 7
expense of great labour, the Regalia---the
Crown, the Septre, and the Sword of State---%
were discovered lying at the bottom covered
with linen cloths, exactly as they had been
left in 1707---being 111 years---since they had
been surrendered by William, the ninth Earl
Mareschal, to the custody of the Earl of
Glasgow, Treasurer-Deputy of Scotland.

The discovery caused much excitement
and extreme joy, and was instantly communicated
to the public by the display of the
Royal Standard, and was greeted by the
shouts of the soldiers in garrison and a vast
multitude assembled on the Castle Hill.
Indeed, the rejoicing was so general and
sincere as plainly to show that the people
of Scotland had lost nothing of their national
enthusiasm.

With the exception of the Sword, which
was slightly bent, all the other Honours were
in a good state of preservation.

Covered with glass and secured in a
strong iron cage, the Regalia now lie on a
white marble table in the Crown Room,
toether with four other memorials of the
House of Stuart, which belonged to the
venerable Cardinal York, and were deposited
there by order of King William in 1830.

Bathgate, I may say in passing, is the
cradle of the Stuart race, they having % sic 'the the'
% page 8
resided in the old Castle of Bathgate, which
was situated some four hundred yards from
the Bathgate Upper Station, on the present
golf course.

In the year 1315 the High Steward of
Scotland came into possession of the Castle,
through his marriage with Princess Marjory,
only daughter of King Robert the Brice, and
was his favourite residence.

From the union sprung the Stuart line of
Kings.  Marjory Bruce was the ``lass'' referred
to by James V.\ on his deathbed\thinspace:  When he
heard of the birth of Mary Queen of Scots,
he said---``Farewell\thinspace: it cam' wi' a lass, it will
gang wi' a lass.''

The memorials referred to in connection
with the House of Stuart are the Golden
Collar of the Garter, presented to James VI.\ by
Elizabeth, with its appendage the George\thinspace;
the Order of St. Andrew, cut on an onyx,
and having on the reverse the Badge of the
Thistle, which opens with a secret spring,
revealing a beautiful miniature of Anne of
Denmark\thinspace; and, lastly, the ancient Ruby Ring
which the Kings of Scotland wore at their
coronation\thinspace: it was last used by the unhappy
Charles I., and, after all its wanderings with
his descendants, is now in its old receptacle
together with the Crown, Septre, Sword of
State, and the Golden Mace of the Lord
High Treasurer.

% page 9
Inspired with enthusiasm, Mr Henry
Scott Riddell wrote the song ``Scotland Yet.''
The song proved very popular.  The spirited
music to which it is sung was composed by
Mr Peter Macleod, and was first published
by him in a separate sheet, the profits
being given for the purpose of putting a
parapet round the monument of the National
Bard on the Calton Hill\thinspace; in connection with
which Mr Joseph Teenan, a now forgotten
Edinburgh poet, composed the Couplet---

\leftskip=30pt

\noindent\llap{``}Puir Burns, amang the Calton rocks,
Sits lanely in his pepper box\thinspace!''

\leftskip=0pt

Mr Henry Scott Ridell, the Scottish Poet
Preacher, was born at Sorbie-on-Ewes, near
Langholm, in the year 1798, and died in 1870.
He was first a shepherd, and afterwards
educated for the ministry\thinspace; he settled in 1833
at Teviothead, Roxburghshire, and retired in
1841 from the ministerial office.  His best
known songs are ``Scotland Yet,'' ``The Crook
and the Plaid,'' and ``The Wild Glen Sae
Green.''

It may not be amiss to give you a short
description of the Regalia.

The Crown is of pure gold, enriched with\thinspace
many\thinspace precious\thinspace stones,\thinspace diamonds,\thinspace pearls, and
curious enamellings.  It is composed of a fillet
which goes round the head, adorned with\thinspace
twenty-two\thinspace large precious\thinspace stones.\thinspace Above the
% page 10
great circle there is a small one formed with
twenty points, adorned with a like number of
diamonds and sapphires alternately, and the
points tipped with great pearls\thinspace; the upper
circle is elevated with ten crosses floree, each
adorned in the centre with a great diamond % sic center
between four great pearls placed in the cross,
and these crosses floree are interchanged with  % i.e. interleaved
ten high fleurs-de-lis.

From\thinspace the\thinspace upper\thinspace circle proceed four arch\-es,
adorned with enamelled figures, surmounted
by a mond of gold, enamelled blue semee,
% Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged:
% 2. or se·mee \-ā\ [semee from French semée, feminine of semé] of a heraldic field:
% having a pattern of small charges: powdered azure semé of five crosslets — Allan Marquand
powdered with stars, crossed and enamelled
with a large cross patee, adorned with great
pearls.

The tiar, or bonnet, was originally of
purple velvet\thinspace; but, in 1685, it got a cap of
crimson velvet, adorned with four plates of
gold, on each of them a great pearl, and the
bonnet is trimmed with ermine.

The Crown is 9 inches in diameter, 27
inches in circumference, and 6${1\over 2}$ inches high.

The Septre, which is of silver double
over-gilt, is two feet long, of a hexagon form,
with three buttons or knobs.  Upon the top
of the stalk is an antique capital of leaves
embossed, surrounded with three small statues%
---the Virgin, St. Andrew, and St. James.

The Sword is 5 feet in length\thinspace: the handle
and pommel are of silver overgilt, in length
% page 11
15 inches\thinspace; the cross of the sword is 17${1\over 2}$ inches
in length\thinspace:  its form is like two dolphins with
their heads joining and their tails ending in
acorns.  The scabbard is of crimson velvet,
covered with silver wrought in philegram
% OED:  I.    filigrane, n.
% (ˈfɪlɪgreɪn)
% Forms: α. 7–9 filigrain(e, fillagreen, (7 filagram, fil'gran, filegreen, filograin, 8 filagrain, -green), 8 filigreen, filligrane, -grean, -green, 8– filigrane. β. 7 philigrin, 7–8 philagrain, -green, -grin.
% [a. Fr. filigrane (in 17th c. often -gramme), ad. It. filigrana, f. L. fīlum thread and grānum grain.]
% 1. =  filigree n. 1.
work into branches of the oak tree leaves and acorns.

Such are the Scottish Regalia, which,
since the destruction of those of England by
Cromwell, are the only ancient regal emblems
in Great Britain.
% \goodpage

In concluding, let me say that I have
endeavoured to give you an explanation of the
term---``Wi' a' the Honours Three.''

\vskip 2pc
\centerline{---{}---{}---{}---{}---}
\vskip 2pc

% \goodpage
The following are the full words of the song---
\vskip 1pc
\centerline{SCOTLAND YET.}
\vskip 1pc
\poem{
Gae bring my guid auld harp aince mair,\\
\quad Gae bring it free and fast\thinspace;\\
For I maun sing anither sang\\
\quad Ere a' my glee be past.\\
And trow ye as I sing, my lads,\\
\quad The burden o't shall be,\\
Auld Scotland's howes and Scotland's knowes,\\
\quad And Scotland's hills for me\thinspace;\\
I'll drink a cup to Scotland yet,\\
\quad Wi' a' the Honours Three.\\
\stanza
% missing verses added:
The heath waves wild upon her hills,\\
\quad And, foaming frae the fells,\\
Her fountains sing o' freedom still\\
\quad As they dance down the dells.\\
And weel I lo'e the land, my lads,\\
\quad That's girded by the sea\thinspace;\\
Then Scotland's dales, and Scotland's vales,\\
\quad And Scotland's hills for me\thinspace;\\
I'll drink a cup to Scotland yet,\\
\quad Wi a' the Honours Three.\\
\stanza
The thistle wags upon the fields,\\
\quad Where Wallace bore his blade,\\
That her foemen's dearest bluid\\
\quad To die her auld grey plaid.\\% sic dye?
And looking to the lift, my lads,\\
\quad He sang this doughty glee,\\
Auld Scotland's right, and Scotland's might,\\
\quad And Scotland's hills for me\thinspace;\\
I'll drink a cup to Scotland yet,\\
\quad Wi' a' the Honours Three.\\
\stanza
They tell o' lands wi' brichter skies,\\
\quad Where freedom's voice ne're rang\thinspace;\\
Gie me the hills where Ossian dwelt,\\  % sic, 'lies'
\quad And Coila's minstrel sang\thinspace;\\
For I've nae skill o' lands, my lads,\\
\quad That ken na to be free\thinspace;\\
Then Scotland's right, and Scotland's might,\\
\quad And Scotland's hills for me\thinspace;\\
We'll drink a cup to Scotland yet,\\
\quad Wi' a' the Honours Three.\\
}
\bye
