"To all ages it should ne'er be forgot

The pains that Patrick Scott of Thirlestane took,

Æneas on Anchises he took pains enough,

But Patrick Scott he took more of the Earl of Buccleuch."

Sir William, the eldest son of Sir Francis and Lady Henrietta Kerr, was the last of the family of Thirlestane who retained the name of Scott. It seemed by a species of retribution that their name merged in that of Napier, for the Scotts of Bowhill, a branch of Thirlestane, murdered a brother of the Inventor of Logarithms, under circumstances discreditable to the chivalry of the borders. But the swan sings ere it dies; and just before the name of these unlettered "minions of the moon" was lost in that of Francis fifth Lord Napier, a tide of song flowed from his father Sir William that illustrates the letters of Scotland. His Latin poems, some of them humorous, others elegantly amatory, were published in a small volume at Edinburgh in the year 1727. He is therein eulogized by the editor Dr Pitcairn, and also by some contemporary poets, as among the very first in polite letters. But his more refined accomplishments were mingled with a vein of racy humour, which displayed itself sometimes in the mock gravity of a carmen macaronicum, of which we can only afford room for a single verse:

* Patrick Scott not only redeemed Thirlestane, but the more ancient property of Howpaslot, (which had previously wandered into the family of Scott of Birkinside,) was recovered and restored to him by a first cousin of his own in 1658. Their ancient maxim and motto, "Best riding by moonlight," was not favourable to the acquirement of steady habits of economy by these possessors of St Mary's in the forest, to whom Satchells' characteristic of Scott of Glack is not inapplicable,

"Oh! the laird of Glack, he must not be omitted,

Though he sold the land of Goldieland long e'er he got it."

"Per domum dansant tabulæ, cathedræ,
Fitstules, furmæ, simul atque chistæ,
Rusticam ducit leviterque dansam
Armo Cathedra."

And sometimes in a genuine Scottish rant, one of the most celebrated of which, though not published in his name, and vaguely ascribed to others, we here lay claim to, as a lay of the last of the lairds of Howpaslot and Thirlestane who retained the name of Scott.

Allan Cunningham, in his Songs of Scotland, doubtingly attributes this highly estimated gem (the whole of whose barbaric lustre we cannot venture to display) to Francis Semple of Beltrees, and says of it, " The company and their feast are beyond the reach of any art save poetry: even Wilkie could not paint fadges and brochan, and the rich odour which ascended from the bridal dinner; nor could Chantrey carve Madge, that was buckled to Steenie, nor Kirsh with the lily-white leg, and the strange way in which her misfortune befel." But Mr Cunningham was by no means satisfied with the claim for Beltrees, which does not even rest on good tradition, and the following extract of a letter from him, dated 4th August 1832, in reply to a communication from Lord Napier on the subject, is interesting. "I have examined the paper which your Lordship had the goodness to leave with me, and I find my suspicions are confirmed respecting the claim made in behalf of Semple of

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Beltrees for the authorship of our north country favourite, Fye let us a' to the bridal.' I always doubted the tradition, and now I find it rests on no authority which can destroy the family claim of the House of Napier. Your Lordship was the first who drew my attention to the sea side flavour of the feast, and to the north of Scotland sort of air of the words. I shall consider it in future as the lyric of a Napier, * unless some new light breaks in upon me. I have no doubt that the papers and memorandums of many noble families in the north contain matters curious both in manners and literature. I wish some one with courage and knowledge and fortitude would make the search," &c.

The information which the late Lord transmitted to myself on the subject is as follows: "Sir William Scott was author of that well known Scot's song, ' Fye let us a' to the bridal-for there will be liltings there,'-—a better thing than Horace ever wrote. My authority was my father, who told me he had it from his, and that he had it from his, who was Sir William's son."†

Such are the most interesting particulars of which I am possessed regarding this border family. It has happened to the name of SCOTT,-whose characteristic in olden times was what William of Delorain said of himself,

"Letter nor line know I never a one
Were't my neck-verse at Hairibee,"

to become intimately connected with the greatest achievements in letters that have enlightened the world. The

* Scott it should be, but the retribution prevails.

† Letter to the author dated, Thirlestane, 15th December 1831. No tradition can be more satisfactory than this, considering how punctiliously accurate were the persons who compose the few steps of the transmission.

lineal male descendants of Walter Scott, the wild tutor of Buccleuch, are the lineal descendants of Napier of Merchiston, and bear his name and the honours of his family. From the Harden branch of Buccleuch springs Sir Walter Scott of Abbotsford.

The spot where the castle of Howpaslot stood was escaping from the memory of man, but a record of it is preserved in a very interesting letter written by the late Lord Napier, not long before he quitted Ettrick Forest, for ever.

"I have been," he writes, " to explore the site of old Howpaslot, and will attempt to describe the scene. At the head of Borthwick Water, a wild and sparkling stream which rises at the confines of Roxburgh and Dumfries, and in the parish of Roberton,-at the head of this water, formed of many rills and little torrents issuing from the clefts of the mountains, and beside one of them assuming the larger dimensions of a burn, there is still to be seen a row of cottages and outhouses, of the architecture of former ages, perched on a rocky promontory, and commanding a view up and down several of these mountain streams. An appearance of strength at once refers the origin of these humble dwellings to something of more importance, which is further indicated by an immense heap of ruins and lime rubbish, grown rank in the nettles, and encumbering the centre of the shepherd's garden. All this, and the remnants of a wall at the extremity of the slope, are signs that once the mighty of the borderland had here their tower of strength, with their gray pease and curly kail, and may be the red red rose of the single leaf blooming for a few weeks at the foot of it. Narrow paths leading along the different openings of

the hills are still visible, and more particularly that towards Teviot-head, and so to the land of the Southern, from whence no doubt many a head of nolt have travelled to sustain the rieving landlords of the tower. Tradition points out a spot, between the garden and the burn, where the remains of some of these moonlight marauders cease from strife; and the old shepherd remembers when, half a century bygone, the pointed ends of stones peering above the turf marked out the limits of their dark and narrow house. There are also to be discovered the foundations of an oblong building, like a chapel, which may very probably have been some place dedicated to the service of the church. The whole scene is wild, even grand, and here and there yet linger the remnants of that Forest which Sir Walter of Howpaslot aided to destroy. But these are rapidly disappearing before the ravages of black-cattle, sheep, and time. The situation is well adapted to the enterprises

* The Tutor of Buccleuch was more or less of a maurader. By the records of the High Court of Justiciary, it appears, that upon the 21st November 1493, " Walter Scot of Howpaslot" was allowed to compound for treasonable bringing in William Scot, called Gyde, and other "traitors of Levyn," to the "Hereschip of Harehede." Item, for theftewously and treasonably resetting of Henry Scot, and other traitors of Levyn; item for the treasonable stouthrief of forty oxen and cows, and two hundred sheep, from the tenants of Harehede. Upon the 11th December 1510, Walter Scot of Howpaslot, the laird of Cranstoune, and thirty-four others, were convicted of destroying the woods in Ettrick-Forest, and fined in 3 pounds each; among the culprits were the Hoppringills of Smalham, Ker of Yare, John Murray the Sheriff, &c. Walter of Howpaslot, however, was not always the offending party. In the year 1494 James Turnbule, brother of the laird of Quithop, produced a remission before the High Court for art and part of the stouthrief of iron windows, (fenistrarum ferrarum) doors and crukis furth of the Tower of Howpaslot, pertaining to Walter Scot.