Falkland Castle and Palace. THE Palace of Falkland stands in the county of Fife, at the north-east foot of the East Lomond, one of the two mountains which rise abruptly in the midst of a plain of considerable extent. Tradition assigns the present site of the Castle and town of Falkland as the station occupied by the ninth Roman legend. The name of the place is supposed by Dr Jamieson to be of Suo-Gothic derivation; the word "Falk," signifying a species of hawk, which he supposes to have frequented this once celebrated spot; but without having recourse to Gothic lore, we may at once adopt the more modern and simple etymon of " Falconland," i. e. " the land of Falconry;" for although the name is variously spelt, "Falconland" is the predominant term used in ancient records. Falkland claims remote antiquity; it formed part of the property of the Earls of Fife, the descendants of Macduff, Thane of Fife, who attained so much celebrity in the reign of Malcolm Canmore, by vanquishing the tyrant Macbeth, and having been chiefly instrumental in restoring Malcolm to the throne of his ancestors. Duncan, the sixth Earl of Fife, married Ada, the niece of Malcolm IV., and the lands of Falkland constituted part of her dowry. In the Book of St Andrews, now lost, Sibbald states, that mention was made of Falkland having been the scene of the following circumstance: In the reign of David I., Constantine Earl of Fife, and Macbeth Thane of Falkland, convened an army here, to prevent Robert de Burgoner from forcing the Culdees of St Andrews and Lochleven to give him half their lands of Kirkness, which he had presumed to claim from them.* The Castle and tower of Falkland are mentioned in ancient records. In 1371, there is an indenture betwixt Isabel Countess of Fife, and Robert Stewart, Earl of Menteith, son of King Robert II., where she acknowledges him as her lawful heir apparent; and "that the said Earl shall have in his keeping the Castle of Falkland, with the forest; and that a constable shall be placed therein by him as he pleases; that the said Countess may stay in the Tower as she pleaseth, and that the whole village of Falkland over against the said Tower, shall be set in tack," &c.t This Robert was not only Earl of Fife, but Duke of Albany, and regent. On the execution of his son Murdo at Stirling, in 1424, James I. annexed the Earldom of Falkland to the Crown. It was while in the possession of Robert Earl of Fife, that this Castle acquired the honours of a Palace, having been occupied by him for a period of thirty-four years, during which time he had all the powers of state in his hands, under the title of General Governor and Regent. It was also the seat of authority, as his aged and infirm father constantly resided at his Castle in the Isle of Bute. Falkland is remarkable for the scene of the most horrid cruelty that ever stained the page of history. Albany, the governor, fearing, from the great promise of David Duke of Rothsay, his nephew, and eldest son of Robert II., that he would prove the rival of his power, used the basest means to prejudice his weak father against the Prince. the Aggravating the many youthful indiscretions of which he had been guilty, he prevailed upon the imbecile monarch to issue an order for his arrest, as a salutary check upon the violent humours of his relative. Having in consequence been decoyed to the residence of his uncle, young Prince was shut up in the "Tower of Falkland," where he was consigned to the cruel fate of dying of hunger. His life is said to have been for some days feebly sustained by a young female, daughter of the Deputy Governor, who had commiseration on him, and let meal fall from a granary above his cell:* others have it, that cakes of oat meal were pushed through a chink or crevice in the wall. This was soon discovered, and the mercy which had been shewn by this female being viewed as perfidy by her cruel father, she was consigned to destruction. This brutal act did not deter another female, employed by the family in the capacity of wet nurse, from attempting to prolong the miserable life of the captive Prince, who continued to supply him with milk from her breasts by means of a long reed, until she was detected, when she in like manner fell a sacrifice to her humanity.† The unhappy Prince, thus deprived of this wretched sustenance, which rather increased his hunger than allayed it, overcome with hunger, having gnawed and devoured his own members, expired, after suffering the most terrible death. His fate was long concealed from his father, as none could be found to have courage enough to convey the dreadful tidings to the King. A report of the murder of David, by his own uncle, at length reached his miserable parents, and the author was pointed out by secret rumour, because nobody dared openly to accuse so powerful a man. The King having imprecated vengeance from heaven, and the most grievous curses upon those and their posterity who had perpetrated so nefarious a crime, over. *Bellenden. Brown's Palaces, p. 31. come with grief and bodily infirmity, returned to Bute, impressed with increased suspicions that the murder had been committed by his brother, who, to lull the suspicions of the King, had recourse to every dissimulation, and actually brought forth some criminals from prison, and caused them to be executed as the suppositious authors of the deed. After this deed, Falkland almost ceased to be used as a royal residence, till the reign of James V.; and it is highly probable that the first of this name had purposely withdrawn himself from a place which had been the prison and slaughter-house of his brother, and whose fate he would in all probability have shared, had not a safer prison been destined for him in an enemy's country.* In 1458, Falkland was erected into a burgh of barony by James II. This charter was afterwards renewed by James VI. in 1595. The cause assigned for this erection was the frequent residence of the Royal family at the manor of Falkland, and the damage and inconvenience sustained by the many Prelates, Peers, Barons, and others who frequented their Court, for the want of innkeepers and victuallers. James V. was much attached to Falkland, probably as affording ample means of gratifying his taste for hunting and hawking. It was at Falkland that the King, while amusing himself with the pleasures of the chase, seized the opportunity of the absence of the Earl of Angus in Lothian, of freeing himself from the thraldom of the Douglases. Having ordered preparations for a solemn hunting on the following day, he in the disguise of a clown, attended by some faithful servants, set out on horseback, and reached Stirling Castle by dawn of day.t James V. resided frequently at Falkland with his Queen, Mary of Guise; indeed, Falkland is indebted for * Aikman's Hist. of Scotland, vol. II. + Pitscottie, p. 217-20. Pinkerton, p. 290. much of its beauty and embellishments to this King, who added the front next the court. Beneath some of the pillars, the names of "Jacobus Rex" and " Marie de Guise," are still to be seen. It was in this Palace, and dying of a broken heart after his defeat at Solway Moss, that the intelligence of the birth of a Princess was brought to him, and where he resigned his last breath, presaging too truly the fate which awaited her, and the downfal and extinction of the Stuart race. Falkland Palace is hallowed by the associations connected with the hapless Mary, who resided in this favourite retreat, where she frequently enjoyed the sports of the field. She had a "garden and park" at Falkland, the latter of which was planted with oaks and alders to the extent of three miles, and abounded with deer.* Here she spent a great portion of her time in the various recreations which she was wont to indulge in. She was peculiarly fond of walking, and transacted most of her business during her perambulations. When not engaged in more active pursuits, she devoted a portion of her time to music, and was proficient on the lute and virginals. When the news of the assassination of the Grand Prior, and the death of her uncle the Duke of Guise, reached her at St Andrews, she retired to Falkland, where she tried for a few days to dissipate her melancholy by the pastimes of the place; she afterwards removed to the more sequestered Castle of Lochleven. Falkland was the favourite Palace of James VI., who had probably selected this Castle as his residence on account of his peculiar attachment to hunting. This King, while walking in the Royal gardens of Falkland, discovered Mr Alexander Ruthven, brother to the Earl of Gowrie, who, overcome with the heat of the day, had fallen asleep, and having the curiosity to go and see who it was, the King was surprised to find a ribbon * Hist. of Fife, p. 386. |