BELOW THE SALT, AND THE STEW- TION OF THE ACCURACY OF THE "Of what importance to the public,-of what profit to the general reader, are exhibitions of pedigree, or specification of titles, or proofs of consanguinity ?"-(page 158.) "Should controversy or competition at any time arise (upon such topics,) it ought carefully to be confined to private discussion, -If these ideas be founded upon justice, what evidence of vanity-what mark of weakness can be figured more indubitable, than to obtrude it (genealogy) on the world 2"-(page 157.8.) Again, addressing himself to a person afterwards to be more particularly attended to, "The writer, who imagines that by ge CESTRY OF THE FAMILY OF ALLAN- nealogical histories of any name, he is to TON. MR EDITOR, IT is one of the miseries attending any attempts to illustrate ancient facts of Scottish history or manners, that such praise-worthy labours have a tendency to awaken the vexation of those whose forefathers happen thereby, incidentally, to be exhibited in less flattering colours than might have been every way pleasing to the vanity and self-love of their descendants. This national foible is less ordinarily associated with those of high as of obscure descent,-while its victims have an antipathy to every thing degrading, they are sometimes too easily deluded by every idle fiction, extravagantly exalting the rank and importance of, not unfrequently, supposititious ancestry. Though well apprised, by experience, of this propensity, I lit tle imagined that in our days it was to betray itself in all its genuine eccentricity, or that the seemingly harmless and delectable article of the "Saltvat," by exciting the animosity of the family of Allanton, or of their allies, was to elicit the strange performance which their able apologist, with more zeal than wisdom, so necessarily obtrudes upon the public. Has then Candidus, the devoted friend of the "learned and worthy Baronet," the admirer of his talents, and more especially of his style, so contemptuously slighted those weighty canons of his respected friend," inculcated in a performance of which, at no very distant period, he was the author, facetiously entitled, "The Genealogical History of the Stewarts refuted." engage the notice of the world at large, will Stat. Thebaid. L. vii. v. 382! Owing to their unquestionable insignificance, an opinion, too, in which the "learned and worthy Baronet" is thus so ready to concur, I at first felt inclined to permit the lucubrations of Candidus to sleep in their unmolested oblivion. Perhaps, after all, this might have been the adviseable course-the more especially as they are founded upon mere assertion-without a vestige of any thing in the shape of authority-no doubt a most easy, though not very convincing mode of managing an argument-and impeaching the veracity of a respectable author.-But I have been drawn aside by curiosity, to inquire how far the high pretensions assumed by this family in a contest, which I believe most people will ima gine they have stirred, could be borne out by any thing in the shape of real evidence whether they themselves might not form a good elucidation of the infatuation which, two centuries ago, had been satirized even by our own countryman, Barclay.* A better excuse, however, for this investigation-the results of which I am about to state (and in doing so, I no doubt draw largely upon the pa Of the Scotch, he observes, "Nulli tamen magis memores suæ stirpis-quibus per diversa terrarum quærentibus opes-et ad preconia suæ nobilitatis obstinatis, sæpius audientium risus, quam lacrymæ et fides accessit."Satyr. p. 324. tience of your readers), may be assigned to a desire of vindicating the veracity of the author of the "Memorie of the Somervilles," —a quality altogether essential in a historian.-For the statement of this writer cannot be corrected, in a matter which must have come under his personal knowledge, without producing any other effect than a little gratification to the vanity of the family of Allanton. The charge of incorrectness will extend its influence to the character of his whole work, and leave a stain upon his reputation, both as a gentleman and as an author. Somerville, laird of Drum (and de facto, Lord Somerville), who wrote in the year 1679, has asserted in his account of his own family, that Sir Walter Stewart of Allanton, Knight, ancestor of the present Sir Henry Stewart of Allanton, Bart. who died not long before the year 1670, was, "from some antiquity, a fewar (that is to say, he and his progenitors) of the earl of Tweddill's in Auchtermuire, whose predecessors, until this man (Sir Walter), never came to sit above the saltfoot when at the Laird of Cambusnethen's table-which for ordinary every Sabboth they dyned at, as did most of the honest men within the parish of any account."* An assertion which he also makes when talking of his brother, Sir James Stewart of Kirkfield and Coltness, whom he styles "a gentleman of very mean familie upon Clyde, being brother-german to the goodman of Allentone (a fewar of the Earle of Tweddill's in Auchtermuire, within Cambusnethen parish), whose predecessors, before this man, never came to sitt above the Laird of Cambusnethen's salt-foot."+ On the other hand, the Allantons stoutly maintain, that both Sir Walter's immediate, and more remote ancestry, were princely and baronial, forming one of the most ancient branches of the HOUSE OF STEWART, that had existed as a separate family for no less than five centuries, directly asserting their claim to the following splendid descent: 1. Sir Robert Stewart, first baron of Daldüe, born long before the year 1300, sixth son of Sir John Stuart of Bonkill-which last was lawful brother of James, high steward of Scotland, grandfather of Robert II. He obtained from his father, who died in the year 1298, in patrimony, the barony of Daldowie, upon Clyde, near Glasgow-accompanied Sir Allan Stuart of Darnley to Ireland in the year 1315was present at the battle of Dundalk and died in the year 1330. 2. Sir Alan Stuart of Daldüe. He married a daughter of Douglas of Douglas, and fell at "the battle of Morningside," in the year 1385. 3. Sir Alan Stuart of Daldüe, Knight Banneret first of Allanton, which property he obtained from the church in reward of his military services in the year 1420. He got the lion passant of England from "commanding" at "the battle of Morningside;"-accompanied Sir John Stuart of Darnley to France in the year 1419;-married at Paris a French lady of distinction. In remembrance of his exploits at a tournament, his representative bears a lance in his escutcheon. He died in the year 1444. 4. James Stuart of Allanton, which now became the principal title, though they still possessed Daldüe. A literary character-he compiled memoirs of his family, still extant, alluded to by Candidus under the name of the Stewart MSS. He married a daughter of Somerville of Cambusnethen, and died in the year 1489. He had two sisters, Margaret and Helen, but these both died unmarried. 5. James Stuart of Allanton. He married Janet the daughter and heiress of Sir James Tait of Ernock. He died in the year 1547, aged 85. He had a younger brother, Walter, who died without issue; also two sisters, Isabella, who died unmarried, and Marian, who married, but her issue are not mentioned. 6. James Stuart of Allanton. He married Marion, daughter of Sir James Lockhart of Lee, and died in the year 1549. He had two brothers, who died gree in the text-most of what he has specifically condescended upon, and the entire remainder in the text has been directly ac*Memorie of the Somervilles, vol. ii. knowledged by the learned and worthy p. 394. + Ibid. p. 380. The descent bestowed upon the family by Candidus, virtually involves the pediVOL. I. Baronet," in his Genealogical History of the Stewarts refuted. Vide pages 29, 60, 136, 137;-the matriculation of his arms in the Lyon Office, and elsewhere. 3 P without issue, and a sister, whose progeny are not detailed. 7. James Stuart of Allanton. He married Helen, daughter of Somerville of Humbie. His brothers were Walter and William, who died unmarried, and another, John, who died without issue, &c. By his wife, Helen Somerville, he had a son, James, which last predeceasing his father, left issue, Sir Walter Stuart of Allanton, the supposed calumniated person-and James, afterwards of Kirkfield and Coltness, Provost of Edinburgh. The point thus turning upon mere matter of fact, I shall begin to explore, by examining into the authenticity of the more early parts of this imposing pedigree. That the heroic Sir John Stewart of Bonkill who died in the year 1298, had any son of the name of Robert, rests solely upon the misconception of a passage from Hollinshed's Chronicle of Ireland, by which a Sir Robert Stewart was most awkwardly substituted for a Sir Robert Lacy. For the full exposure of this error, we are indebted to the intelligence of the acute Andrew Stewart, author of the well known Letters to Lord Mansfield in the Douglas cause, whom some, doubtless, will be surprised to find quoted upon such an occasion. In the year 1798, he published his elaborate History of the Family of Stewart. On this illustrious stem, however, in the total absence of any authority, he was so uncourteous as to omit ingrafting the stock of Allanton, "Hinc illæ lachrymæ;"-a procedure which called from the pen of the "learned and worthy Baronet," a feeble pamphlet, under the name of " The Genealogical History of the Stewarts refuted." -The childish futility of the argument is only to be equalled by the shallow pedantry of the composition * "In his refutation of the Genealogical History of the Stewarts, he has called in to his assistance all his old classical friends from the Grecian and Roman territories. In the muster roll of the foreign auxiliaries, there are Pindar, Aristophanus, Virgil, Horace, Sallust, Julius, Capitolinus, Statius, &c. &c. Under such circumstances, he can be no other than a great and accomplished scholar. (Andrew Stewart's Supp. p. 99.) But the same author also remarks, "There is hardly any part of the splenetic Performance in question, and of the classical the audacity of the attempt by the utter nothingness of the result. He there complains, among other very singular matter, of the cruel affront; and, as the convenient Candidus is attempting to do upon the present occasion, formally obtruded upon our acquaintance the proud series of his imaginary ancestry. In the Supplement to his History, afterwards published, Andrew Stewart incidentally unfolded the clearest evidence of the non-existence of Sir Robert Stewart, though without making any additional attack upon the remaining links,-accompanied with a calm, dignified, and annihilating, refutation of the miserable cavils of the learned and worthy Baronet" upon other topics;a rejoinder that, down to this day, is unanswered, and, as far as regards the family of Allanton, is unanswerable.* This was indeed, as all the world saw, a most unequal combat. It is to be regretted that the scene of the contest was so obscure, and theobject for which they fought so trifling. We there recognize the perspicuity and force of reasoning of the author of the celebrated Letters, though in the evening of life, which it has become fashionable among some to withhold from their genuine author, and to attribute to the pen of Junius. Perhaps "the learned and worthy Baronet" is alone ignorant of the signal overthrow he then sustained. If, however, he really be aware of this disaster, why, encouraged by the demise of this formidable antagonist, and the lapse of a few years, does he encourage or permit Candidus to mock our judgment, by endeavouring to smuggle in upon us such stale and refuted trumpery. Before Symson,t and those who retailed the fable, as far as I can discov learning displayed in it, but what might have been equally applicable to any other person, or to any other occasion." (P. 105.) We are here almost reminded of the character hit off by Buchanan in the Franciscan. "Novi ego, qui tantum ter quinque Latina teneret Verba, sed ingenii sic dexteritate valebat er, no one had, in the most distant manner, alluded to this visionary Bonkill descent: nay, it is expressly contradicted by the tradition of the family themselves, which, a century ago, surmised that they were sprung from Castlemilk;* an origin which, for reasons probably known to themselves, they have in modern times been at pains to disown. In no record, chronicle, or document, foreign or domestic, -nor can this be contradicted-are there the slightest traces of this pretended Sir Robert Stewart, though there are abundance of other contemporary Stewarts, even of small notoriety. But it is extremely obvious, that, if proved, the fact of his existence would not necessarily identify him with a Sir Robert Stewart," Baron" of Daldüe; of which last it only remains to add, that he is also as airy a phantom as ever graced the antediluvian Periods of a Welsh pedigree. In the sequel, too, it will be apparent that Daldüe could not, until a very long period afterwards, have belonged to the Stewarts. The succeeding links of the pedigree, down to the James Stewart of Allanton, who is represented to have married a Janet Tait, daughter and heiress of a knightly personage, styled Sir James Tait of Ernock, rest exclusively upon the evidence of a family manuscript―necessarily a most impartial and unexceptionable authorityof no great antiquity; for determining which fact, as well as its general veracity, ample means will be afforded hereafter,-upon some careless assertions of Duncan Stewart, seemingly purloined from it,-and, most especially, upon a certain "Historical and Genealogical Tree of the Royal Family of Scotland," loudly panegyrized by "the learned and worthy Baronet," which, in the year 1792, obtained the sanction and approbation of the Lyon Office, and of the Earl of Buchan, compiled by a Mr John Brown, hawker of pedigrees, and genealogist to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. By this experienced gardener, the old stock was pruned of its withering branches; *Dunc. Stewart's Hist. of the Fam. of Stewart, p. 199. + Gen. Hist. of the Stewarts refuted, p. 137. But it rather, vexatiously, here again happens, that in no genuine document is there mention of these personages, more than of their visionary predecessor, Sir Robert of Daldüe,-though so high and distinguished. It would be an idle piece of mockery, indeed, cumstanced, thus so fully disproved, to challenge their existence. So cirthis ridiculous ancestry is undeserving of the slightest observation or criticism. But its falsity is even independently exposed, by the flagrant absurdities and fictions which it so impudently proclaims. Four generations are only assigned to two centuries. James Stewart of Allanton aspires to a daughter of Somerville of Cambusnethen, a most desirable match, which, if real, would have obviated the present discussion. The spectre, Sir Allan of Daldüe, actually subdues the proud heart of a daughter of the house of Douglas of Douglas! His son, Sir Allan Stewart of Allanton, knight banneret, "commanded" at the mighty battle of Morningside" against " the English," in the plains of Auchtermuire! Hitherto, then, we have vainly attempted to penetrate through the thick vail of obscurity, under which they are so effectually concealed. But I am now to present some original information for which they are solely indebted to me-of this humble race, who have thus, in the shade, pursued the "noiseless tenor" of their career. The next link, still exclusively resting upon the authority of Mr John Brown and the immaculate manuscript, introduces to our notice a James Stew *The original is as follows: Allani. Stevart. de. Allanton. Et. de. Daldue. equitis. Banneretti. Viri. egregii. Armis. acerrimi. Ejusdem. qui. insigni. pugna. Apud Morningside. clarus. factus. Fons Sacer. + + V.S.L.A. faciund. C. An. MDCCCXIII. H. S. XI. Gradus. distans. hic. a. duce. illo. fortissimo.' + From this we may form some idea of the justness of the remark of Candidus, that hisrespected friend" is much more able, had he chosen to have undertaken the task of "vindicating his family honours.' Some ordinary contrivance-urn, vessel, &c. &c. for receiving the water. art, as usual, of Allanton, though not a knight-and this is surprisingwho is married to a Janet Tait,-the alleged daughter, however, of one,who died in the year 1547; and I on my part subjoin the following document, the Latin portion of which I have translated in the text, inserting the original in the note.* "The Inventory of all the goods of the late Allan Stewart, taken down, at Allanetoune, from his mouth, † on his departure, the xijth day of the month of July, in the year of our Lord jmvcxlvij, in presence of these witnesses, William Wallace, Alexan * Inventarium Omnium Bonorum, quondam Allani Stewart factum apud Allanetoune per os decedentis xij die mensis Julii anno Domini jmycxlvij coram his testibus Willielmo Wallace, Alexandro Robesoune, Domino Johanne Lyndesai, meo curato diversisque aliis. In primis fatetur se habere quinque boves, Item duas vaccas, Item duo animalia etatis duorum annorum, Item unam lye quy etatis unius anni, Item unum ly stot etatis unius anni, Item unum taurum ly bull etatis trium annorum, Item unum lie stot etatis duorum annorum, Item quatuor ly moderlesse calvis, Item xxxvij oues senes, Item xxij lie hoggis, Item in utensilibus et domiciliis xls, Item in avenis seminatis xl b. Item in Ordeo seminato iii b. Debita que sibi debentur: Imprimis Allanus Lockhart de lie et Alexander Lockhart in Wicketschaw ix mercas monete. Debita que debentur aliis : marcas viija, Item Andree Cadder xxa marImprimis Domino pro firma terra duas cas, Item Gavino Stewart lxxx mercas et iii marcas, vulgariter, to rentall him, at my Lord of Glasgui's hand, of fyve merk land of Daldowe Wester, et xxj s. land in Mosplatt:-Item Joanni Steill Xij s:-Item John Scot xx s:-Item Jonete Spier x peccas Ordei:-Item Thome Russel xl s:Item Willielmo Wallace xs:-Item Alex Roger vi s-Item Thome Symth iiii s. Cum nichil sit certius morte, nec hora ejus incertius, hinc est, quod, ego Allanus Stewart, sanus mente et corpore, condo testimentum meum in hunc modum sequentem : In primis nempe do et lego animam meam Deo Omnipotenti, Beate Marie Virgini, et omnibus sanctis celestis curie, corpusque meum terre, quator d. fabrice Sancti Kentigerni executores meos constituo Elizabet Tait meam sponsam et Jacobum Douglas in Todhallis ut ipsi disponant pro salute anime mee sicuti respondere voluerint coram Summo Judice in die judicii: Similiter do et lego mee sponse ut sequitur in vulgari. [then follows as in the text.] Est pauperis numerare greges.' |