Alexander II.] OLD-WORLD WAYS. 51 he sent? What treaty did he conclude? On what terms?-6. By what attempt was this followed? With what result? What did the decree of Clement III. declare?-7. When was the independence of Scotland restored? By whom? What did he require in return?-8. What threatened the peace with England in William's later years? What did William require in 1211? When and where did he die? How long had he reigned?-9. Whose son was Alexander II.? What was going on in England when he came to the throne? Which side did he take? What did the barons therefore do? What arose in consequence? How long did it last? How was peace confirmed?-10. What was attempted in 1222? With what result?-11. When was the question of the northern counties again revived? What compromise was agreed to? To whom had the earldom of Huntingdon passed?-12. What led to the invasion of 1244? How was war averted? Where was the treaty signed?-13. By what was Alexander's reign disturbed? On what expedition had he gone when he died? Where did he die? 13. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. OLD-WORLD WAYS. 1. LET us linger a little about the ancient Scottish burgh, and observe its old-world ways. Up the street comes a rabble with great noise and shouting. They have a luckless wight in the midst of them, who gets well beaten as they march along. They set him upon the "cukstool," and the youngsters pelt him well. Then they march him to the town-head and cut off his ear. He had only one to lose, having already been treated in the same way. If he be caught thieving again, there will be ample proof of his having been found guilty before. Let him go, then; but if, after this, he be found stealing to the amount of thirty-two pennies, he that takes him may hang him without any more ado. 2. In the centre of the little burgh stands its market-cross. The tall stone cross rises out of a circular or many-sided base, 'consisting of a series of three or four broad steps. A crowd has gathered around. A herald, surrounded by his attendants and trumpeters, stands on the uppermost step of the cross. Then the trumpets break forth in a loud blast, and the pealing clang sends its echoes far over the little burgh. And then the deep voice of the herald is heard reading a Royal Proclamation,2 or an Act of Parliament. In days when printing was not, this was the mode of 'publishing Acts of Parliament; and no Act was in force till it had been thus published at the cross of each royal burgh. 3. Every evening the wakestaff3 goes round the burgh. It is his duty to call out the watch who are to keep the gates and walls for the night. Every house within the burgh (houses of widows 'excepted) is bound to take its turn of “watch and ward." The stout burgher takes his long spear down from the rafters, fixes his axe in his belt, settles his iron bonnet on his head, and 'sallies forth to his watch. 4. The burgh is careful of its 'dignity as well as of its safety. The provost and bailies may make their own bread and brew their own ale, but they must not sell either. No dyer, butcher, or tanner, who is a burgher, may work at his calling with his own hands. He must employ servants, whom he is only to look after as a master, otherwise he can be no burgher. 4 5. It is a day of much stir and of some 'anxiety in the burgh when the King's Lord Chamberlain comes to look into its 'behaviour. These circuits, or Chamberlain Aires, are no mere 'formality. They are occasions for inquiring into the faults and shortcomings of everybody in the burgh, from bailie to beadle. Do the bailies do their duty "evenly to poor and rich"? Do they, for love or hatred, hinder justice? Do they set 'sufficient watch every night; and do they, without favour, make all men take their fair turn of watching? Not quite a pleasant trial for a bailie to undergo before the assembled town. 6. But every man has his turn. If the shoemaker, during the course of the year, has sold a pair of shoes made with raw leather and bad thread, his customer stands forth as his accuser If a tailor has kept back 'remnants of any man's cloth; if the saddler has put untrusty leather into bridle-rein or stirrup, the men whom they have cheated will be called on to declare it openly at the Chamberlain Aire. It has been said that the Chamberlain Aire was not well liked by the burghs. It is not certain that such close inquiries would be in great favour at the present day. 7. Once in the year comes the Fair, when the quiet burgh brims with life and bustle. The fair lasts for several weeks, and draws traders from afar, even from beyond seas. During fairtime all debtors, runaways, and lesser offenders are free from arrest, unless they break "the peace of the fair." Such as break the peace of the fair are not punished by the magistrates Alexander III.] ANOTHER ENGLISH MARRIAGE. 53 of the burgh, but by the Pie-powder5 Court, or Court of the Dusty-feet. The dusty-foot was the travelling merchant or pedler, who plodded through the land with his goods and set up his booth at all fairs. an-cient, old; old-fashioned. circuits, journeys of judges from town to town. con-sist-ing, made up. cus-tom-er, one who buys. debt-ors, persons in debt. de-clare', make known. dig-ni-ty, honour. 1 Cuk'stool, a kind of pillory, on which offenders were set in a public place. 2 Roy'al proclama'tion, a notice in the King's name. 3 Wake/staff, so called from his rod or staff of office. Thus a constable or bailiff is sometimes called a Tip-staff, and the usher of Parliament is called the Black-rod. Wake means watch. dyer, one who dyes cloth. 4 Chamberlain Aires, journeys or circuits. In England, travelling justices were called Justices in Eyre. Both words are, through French, from Latin iter, a journey. The chamberlain was originally the keeper of the royal treasure-chamber. 5 Pie-pow'der, from French piedspoudrés (pee-ay' poo-dray), dusty feet. QUESTIONS.-1. How were thieves dealt with in the old Scottish burgh ?—2. What was the mode of publishing Acts of Parliament? Where did the herald stand?-3. Who watched the walls at night? How did each man know when his turn came ?-4. How was the burgh careful of its dignity?-5. What were Chamberlain Aires?-6. What kind of inquiries did they make?-7. What was the great annual festival? How long did it last? Who were free from arrest during fair-time? By whom were offenders against the peace of the fair tried? What is the meaning of Pie-powder? 14. THE NORSEMEN. 1. ALEXANDER III.-The Tamer of the Ravens came to the throne in 1249. Alexander III.1 was so called in his later years because of his success in overcoming the Norsemen, whose banners bore the 'device of a black raven with outspread wings. He was only eight years old when he was crowned in the Abbey of Scone. At the tender age of ten he was 1251 married at York to his cousin Margaret, the eldest daughter of Henry III. of England.2 During the rejoicings Henry tried to draw from Alexander a promise of homage for his whole kingdom; but he utterly failed to entrap the youthful bridegroom. A.D. 2. During the King's 'minority the country was 'disturbed by factions, striving for the keeping of his person. 1261 But in his twentieth year Alexander took the power A.D. into his own hands, and proved a match both for his disorderly nobles and for his 'scheming 'father-in-law. 3. Ever since the end of the ninth century the whole of the Scottish isles, from Orkney and Shetland round to the Isle of Man, had been in the possession of Norsemen. They were governed by a number of 'petty kings, who owned the King of Norway as their feudal lord. In the north they had also gained a footing on the mainland.3 4. These hostile 'neighbours gave great trouble to the Scottish Crown. They were ever ready to side with its enemies, whether foreign or 'domestic. The Kings of England could always count on them as 'allies. With their help, the Lords of Galloway, the Barons of Argyle and Moray, and the Earls of Ross, were able to set the King of Scots at defiance. 5. Alexander therefore 'resolved to subdue the Norsemen of the Isles. In 1262 he sent a fleet and an army against 1262 them, and all the chiefs who 'refused to own themselves vassals of Scotland were driven out. They complained to their over-lord, Haco1 of Norway, who sailed for Scotland with a fleet and an army to punish the Scottish King. A.D. al-lies, aid-givers. com-plained', found fault. 1 Alexan'der III., son of Alexan-, der II. Married (1) Margaret of England; (2) a daughter of the Count of Dreux. Reigned 37 years (1249–1286). 2 En'gland. -Intermarriages between the Scottish and English royal families were very common in these early times. (1) Malcolm III. married Margaret, the Etheling's sister. Their daughter, Edith-Matilda, married Henry I. (3) Alexander I. married (2) hos-tile, in a state of war. mi-nor-i-ty, state of being under age. schem-ing, planning; cunning. Sybilla, a daughter of Henry I. (4) Alexander II. married Joanna, daughter of King John. (5) Alexander III. married Margaret, daughter of Henry III. 3 The mainland, — namely, in Caithness and Sutherland, which long formed part of the Earldom of Orkney. (See p. 31, and p. 32, Note 3.) 4 Ha'co.-Hakon is the Norse form of the name. QUESTIONS.-1. What name was given to Alexander III.? Why? When did he begin to reign? How old was he then? Where was he crowned? To whom Alexander III.] HACO'S INVASION. 55 was he first married? What did Henry try to do during the rejoicings? Was he successful?-2. In what state was the country during the King's minority? When did he take the government into his own hands? For whom did he prove a match ?-3, 4. What hostile neighbours still gave great trouble to the Crown? How?-5. What did Alexander resolve to do? In what year did he send a fleet and an army against them? To whom did the chiefs complain? On what did Haco resolve? 15. THE BATTLE OF LARGS. 1. HACO's fleet was the largest and strongest that had ever sailed from Norway. The old Norse banners, with their grim device of a black raven, floated over decks 1263 crowded with warriors in polished 'chain-mail, whose pikes and lance heads showed over the 'bulwarks like groves of steel. A.D. 2. The news of this vast array was soon carried to Scotland. Alexander, well aware that he could not meet his enemy at sea, took measures to give him a warm 'reception wherever he might land. Beacons were set along the coast, to signal the approach of the invader. Castles were put in a thorough state of defence. Ships were placed at the points where the Norsemen were thought likely to make their attack, in order to hinder their landing and give time for the army to come up. 3. It was about the middle of August when the fleet of Haco, numbering one hundred and sixty ships, rounded the Mull of Cantire1 and entered the Firth of Clyde. Time is everything in war. Haco should have landed at once. Every day was bringing the storms of autumn nearer, and every day was giving time to the King of Scotland to add to his forces. Haco was a veteran who had been King of Norway six-andforty winters. Alexander was a young man who had lived fewer than half the years that Haco had reigned. But the youth outwitted the veteran. He sent barefooted 'friars on board Haco's ship to offer terms of peace, and thus spun out the time till the weather began to break. The fleet meantime was running short of food, and the Scots in great numbers were gathering on the shore. 4. It was now the last day of September. At night there came on a storm so sudden and so wild that the Norwegians believed it to have been raised by the spells of the Scottish |