BESIDES these large erections, there were many small chapels, oratories, and chantories, in different parts of the county. The places where they stood commonly go by the name of Kirk-crofts or Chapel-lands; and are, for the most part, well cultivated.

THE abbey of Newbottle had considerable possessions in Stirlingshire. David I made a donation to that monastery of a salt-pan upon the lands of Callanter, with the privilege of fuel and common pasture in the wood of that name. The place where the salt-pan was situated still goes by the name of Salt-Pow. Adam de Morham, who appears to have had a large estate in those parts, granted to the same monastery a tract of land, called the Grange of Bereford, lying upon the south side of the Carron. It is now known as Abbot's Grange, and is included the newly erected parish of Polmount.* Here the Abbot had a country-seat;† some remains of which, together with those of the garden, are still to be seen.

(POLMOUNT is "Mount of the Pool." Editor.) ↑ WRITS of Newbottle:

SEVERAL parcels of land also about Kinnaird and Stenehouse, together with the mills of the latter, belonged to Newbottle.*

THE abbey of Holy-rood, or Sancti Crucis, had likewise possessions in this shire. David I granted to it two ox-gangs of land, with a salt-pan in the parish of Airth. In 1166, the Bishop of St Andrew's made a donation of the church of Ecclesbrae or Falkirk, with some lands in its neighbourhood. Sundry parcels of ground in Kinnaird, and upon the banks of the Carron, eastward of Stenehouse, belonged to that monastery.‡

THE Knights-Templars had possessions in Denny, the Carse of Falkirk, and other parts of this county. Mr Spotiswood mentions a place in Stirlingshire called Oggerstone, founded by St David, where that order had

* WRITS of Newbottle. (It is impossible to hear of Stenehouse, and not to think of that very ancient stone-house, commonly called Arthur's Oven, which, in 1745, served as materials for the damdyke of the adjoining mills. Editor.)

+ MAITLAND'S History of Edinburgh.

WRITS of Newbottle.

a fort and barony.* We have not, however, been able to discover it.†

RELIGIOUS Houses, p. 266.

(THE Templars had their principal establishment at MidLothian. They were introduced into Scotland by David I, who gave them, among other possessions, Balantrodach, on the South-Esk, their chief seat, since known by the names of Temple and Arniston. Alexander II was their friend; and a charter by him is preserved in transcript, conferring upon them great privileges. They formed various establishments over Scotland, subordinate to Balantrodach. Brianus preceptor templi in Scotia swore fealty to Edward I, in Edinburgh Castle, July 1291. Rymer, II, 572. John de Sautre, maister de la chivalerie de templi, en Ecosse, did so August 1296. Prynne, 656. Edward commanded the sheriffs of Scotland to restore the property of the Templars. Rymer, II, 724. They had an establishment at St Germain's in East-Lothian. That at Oggerstone, comprehending a fort and barony in Stirlingshire, wherever situated, they had obtained, according to Mr Spotiswood, from David I. They had establishments at Inchinnen in Renfrewshire, at Mary-Culter in Kincardineshire, at Aboyn and Tulich in Aberdeenshire, and elsewhere. They had a small house at Mount Hooly on the borough-moor of Edinburgh. In digging their cemetery there, several skeletons were found, lying cross-legged, with their swords by their sides, after the manner of their order, and indeed of military men connected nearly or distantly with the Holy Land. The Templars had a number of houses in Edinburgh and Leith, on which they displayed the cross of their order. They were suppressed, by a general council held by Pope Clement V, at Vienne in France, in 1312, and their estates and property transferred to the rival order of St John of Jerusalem, who had their chief seat at Torphichen in West-Lothian, and whose existence terminated in 1563, when their whole lands, converted into a temporal lordship, were, by Queen Mary, bestowed upon

SECT. VII.

BATTLE OF STIRLING,

13th SEPTEMBER 1297.

THE extinction of the royal line of Scotland, by the death of Alexander III, who was killed, in the prime of life, by a fall from his horse, at Kinghorn, in March 1285, created such confusion as brought the kingdom to the very brink of ruin.* The next heir to the crown was a Princess, scarcely three years of age, grandchild of the late King, by his

their preceptor, Sir James Sandilands. Caledonia, Vol. II, pp. 767-769. Editor.)

* At that time lived Thomas Learmont of Earlstown, commonly called Thomas the Rhymer, on account of his unintelligible rhapsodies, which are extant. Many strange stories are told of him, among others the following. The day before the King's death, having been asked by the Earl of March, what sort of weather the next day would produce; he replied, "Before to-morrow at noon, such a tempest shall blow, as Scotland has not felt for many years." Next forenoon had proved remarkably fine; and the Earl said to him, "Learmont, thou art a false prophet." He answered, "Noon is not yet over." Meanwhile, an express arrived, to inform the Earl of his Majesty's death; "This is the tempest I have foretold," quoth the Rhymer," and so it shall prove to Scotland."

daughter, who had been married to the King of Norway. This infant, commonly called the Maiden of Norway, was immediately acknowledged as Queen by the states, who at the same time established a regency for the management of affairs during her minority. Her death, in 1290, threw the kingdom into a general consternation, and left the succession altogether perplexed. The history of the different competitors for the empty throne, upon this occasion, is foreign to our purpose. John Baliol and Robert Bruce, grandfather of the future monarch of this name, were generally allowed to stand foremost in the list;* but, as it admitted of dispute to which of them the preference belonged, they both agreed, with the consent of the

⚫ (BALIOL was great grandson of David Earl of Huntingdon, grandson of David I, by his eldest daughter. Robert Bruce, grandfather of the future monarch so called, was son of the second daughter of the said Earl. A third claimant, John Cumyn, whose son and representative John Cumyn was killed in 1306 by Bruce's grandson, the future king, was great great grandson of Hexild, daughter of the Princess Bethoc, daughter of Donald Ban, and great grandaughter of an earlier Princess of the same name. The Countess Hexild Lad married Richard Cumyn of Northumberland, who had obtained, from Earl Henry son of David I, the manor of Linton-Roderick in Roxburghshire, and of whom the two Cumyns were the successive representatives. Editor.)

Y