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stone in the same county; being heir of entail to his uncle James, son of Thomas Broun, stationer, and bailie in Edinburgh, who purchased the estate of Eastfield in 1696. His exact age is not discernible, but as he was still at school in 1712, and in a state of tutelage in other respects, it is evident that he was quite a little boy a little boy when he came into his kingdom. Nevertheless one of the earliest entries in the account is for 'a wig to sd Thomas' at £3 5s., which seems a strange accoutrement for a boy of tender years, but as no more wigs are mentioned, it is probable that he had lost his hair somehow, and a wig became a necessity. Shortly afterwards three ells of tartan were purchased to make him a nightgown or evening frock, which in combination with the wig must have made a queer little figure of him.

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The first business to be attended to at Thomas's succession was the letting of his property, and accordingly Robert Taylor was sent to Kirkliston, Ratho, Currie and Corstorphine, to intimat at the Kirkdoors that Gogarstain was to Sett.' This not producing the desired effect, six months later the bellman of these villages and of Collingtoun and Libertoun besides, was paid 5s. for intimating that it was to be sett by way of roup,' which intimation was also made by a Sheriff's officer at the Cross of Edinburgh. The roup proved successful in so far as getting a tenant was concerned, and the tacks were signed a week later. Eastfield, however, was not let till the beginning of 1705, when Sir Robert Murray became tenant, but to account for the delay, there was a good deal of repairing to do. For this purpose trees and deals were supplied by John Henderson, wright, for the house and stables; and six hundred flooring nails and a quarter hundred double floorings, as well as door nails and ironwork, were purchased. So it is evident that the woodwork of the house was in a bad state. However, there was no further outlay during the period covered by the account, and the only expense was the cess, and a small sum occasionally for the repair of Cramond Bridge. After the properties were let, and sundry legal matters settled, the accounts are chiefly concerned with the boy's clothing and education, which seems to have begun in 1705. The only entries for his clothing are for shoes and stoquens an unusual but picturesque spelling-hats and gloves, muslin for 'gravates,' linen for shirts, and nightcaps, and 'corderins' or corduroys. All else is hidden away in tradesmen's accounts entered in sums

total. The schoolmaster was paid £2 18s. a quarter, and the doctor half that amount; but the former received in addition a present from the pupils at Candlemas, which was called bleize money or candle-money, the amount of which variedon one occasion it was 14s. 6d., on another £2 14s. 6d. Another master received £2 a quarter for teaching Thomas to write.

An interesting entry occurs in 1706, when a cock was purchased for him for 6s., and 4s. were paid for setting it down and taking it up. It does not recur in 1707, but in the three following years the same sums were paid and the same services rendered; on one occasion, at any rate, by the doctor, the boy providing the bird, but otherwise taking no part in the performance. The doctor was evidently what would now be termed an expert in cock fighting. The fights took place about the same time in each year, the middle of February -the usual day was Shrove Tuesday. It was a strange custom and an old one, which survived into the nineteenth century. In My Schools and Schoolmasters Hugh Miller writes, "The School like almost all the other grammar schools of the period in Scotland had its yearly cock fight.' The period was about 1812. Every boy had to pay the dominie twopence for leave to bring his birds to the pit; but in Hugh Miller's time, though the fees were exacted, it was no longer necessary to bring the birds, of which circumstance he took advantage. These fees were recognised as part of the income of the schoolmaster, which in 1790 was formally stated, in the case of Applecross, to be composed of salary, fees, and cock-fight dues. The books supplied to Thomas, which give some idea of the character of his education, form the most interesting element in the accounts. His earliest acquisition was a New Testament in 1705, which was followed by a 'pair of rudimenis,' that is, a set of rudiments,-what was included in the set?and by a gilded Psalm Book in Turkey. In 1706 he was furnished with Kirkwood's grammar.

This James Kirkwood was a scholar and notable character in his day. He was born near Dunbar, date unknown, and in 1674 became master of the school in Linlithgow at a salary of 400 merks-say £22 sterling-and served in that post for fifteen years. He then quarrelled with the magistrates, who were his superiors, and was dismissed, being moreover forcibly ejected from his dwelling along with his Dutch wife; while

his books and furniture were flung into the street. For these injuries, moral and material, he got damages to the amount of 4000 merks after much litigation. While at Linlithgow he had the honour of boarding and educating the second Earl of Stair, of Dettingen fame, who was a good scholar as well as a good soldier. He subsequently started a school in Edinburgh, and finally became schoolmaster of Kelso, where he died some time before 1720. Kirkwood published a Latin grammar in 1674 and, after the Revolution, at the instance of Lord President Stair, was consulted by the Parliamentary Commissioners for Colleges as to the best Latin grammar for schools. The Lord President asked him what he thought of Despauter's grammar. He replied, 'a very unfit grammar, but by some pains it might be made a good one.' Being desired to be more plain, he said, 'My Lord President, if its superfluities were rescinded, the defects supplied, the intricacies cleared, the errors rectified, and the method amended; it might pass for an excellent grammar.' He was accordingly appointed to reform Despauter, and in 1695 published a revised edition, which was used in schools until superseded by Ruddiman's Rudiments. Despauter was a Fleming, and his Latin grammar was used in the schools of France, whence, no doubt, it was introduced into Scotland. Too long,' says a French writer, it caused the despair of youth, who shed many tears over its obscurities.' Despauter died in 1526.

In addition to Kirkwood's grammar, Thomas received in 1706 two copies of Rudiments, and a Child's Guide. In 1707 the year began with Phaedri Fabulae, and closed with Majora Colloquia Erasmi, a Confession of Faith coming between. The next January added Ovid's Epistles to the list of Classics, and Coles' Dictionary was also purchased. This Dictionary was published in 1677 by one Elisha Coles, a schoolmaster, who compiled two, whereof one was English and the other Latin, but which of the two was purchased on this occasion is not specified. In January, 1709, Thomas began to read Cornelius Nepos, and in May he got Gustius' History, which was probably the History of the World from the Assyrian Monarchy down to the time of Augustus Caesar, by Justinus, a Roman historian. This book was in the original Latin, which was made English' by T. Brown three years later-too late for poor Thomas. In the same year he got Ovid's Metamorphoses, and,-just in time for the Christmas holidays-Buchanan's Psalms with ecphrasis.

The next year began badly for him with Exercises to the Accidents, which was followed by Smetius' Prosodia-Smetius or Smet being a Belgian poet, who has long ceased from troubling. An improvement, however, took place in April, when Virgil cum Notis Minelii was purchased, followed in October by Caesar's Commentaries, and, early next year, by Horace with Minelius' notes. From this rapid succession of classical authors it would seem that Thomas had scarcely time to make the acquaintance of one, before being introduced to another. The only other book purchased in this year, 1711, and indeed the last one mentioned in the accounts, was another copy of Buchanan's Psalms with ecphrasis-no escape from that branch of learning. In September, 1711, the boy went on horseback to Haddington, where he was put to school with one Watt for a quarterly payment of £3-surely sterling money-and was boarded with Margaret Wilkie, relict of Thomas Warrander, painter. He was at Haddington in September, 1712, when the accounts close abruptly. His life cannot have been a long one, as his uncle Charles succeeded to the estate of Eastfield. J. G. A. BAIRD.

Letters of Cardinal Beaton 1537-1541

THE

HE following letters are perhaps of more linguistic than historical interest. They show us how a gentleman of Scotland wrote in the middle of the sixteenth century. But his Eminence, like Sir George (Bluidy) Mackenzie, omitted the year-date in his correspondence, and thereby nearly drove me out of my five poor wits.

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Whoever reads the text of this holy man will perceive that the letters are of date August 22-October 25. In Letter II. (Mascon, September 13) is a reference to the bad health of Casso the fule,' a Court jester. In Letter V. (of Dongeoune,' October 25) the statement of September 13, as to Casso, is repeated. The correspondence, so far, appears to be of August-October, but in what year? We know (Treasury Accounts, vol. vii. p. 497) that Beaton left Scotland in July, 1541, with the Unicorn,' and (Hamilton Papers, vol. i. 83) that he sailed in the Mary Willoughby.' The same papers (vol. i. 148-149) show that he came home by August 14, 1542. But, in Letter V., he is of Dongeoune' (which I took for Dungeness), on his way home, on October 25, 1541. Letters II. III. refer to James's meeting, never held, with Henry VIII. at York, of which the date is September, 1541. The letters are of September 13 and 14. Letter IV. (October 22) on the other hand is all about James's negotiations for marrying Mary of Guise, a match arranged in 1537!

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Nearly reduced to the condition of a gibbering idiot by this mixture of 1537 with 1541, and by Casso the fule permeating the correspondence, I consulted Mr. Hume Brown. He rescued my sanity by pointing out that Letters I. II. III. V. are of 1541, while Letter IV. is an interloper from the autumn of 1537. That would have been my own verdict, but for 'Casso the fule,' who appears in Letter II. (Mascon, September 13) and in Letter V. (of Dongeoune,' October 25). Dongeoune cannot be Dungeness, for Beaton will later come to Paris, he says.

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