with bread, has been gaelized port-ne-bare, the harbour of bread. [v. Davies Dict. Brit, v. Bara.] The transcriber of the Cotton MS. has here interpolated a line with a French explanation of the name. [v V. R] D. Macpherson. L. 179.] This "hows of defens" was perhaps Maiden Castle, the ruins of which are on the south side of the present Kennoway. There are some remains of Roman antiquity in this neighbourhood, and it is very probable that Macduff's castle stood on the site of a Roman Castellum. D. Macpherson. F 151 b Bot his Lady wyth fayre Trettè 200 Scho sayd, Makbeth, luke wp, and se 'Wndyr yhon Sayle forsuth is he, 'De Thayne of Fyfe, hat how has sowcht, Trowe howe welle, and dowt rycht nowcht, "Gyve evyr how sall hym se agayne, 205 'He sall he set in-tyl gret payne; Syne how wald hawe put hys Neke 'In-til hi yhoke. Now will I speke Wyth he ná mare: fare on hi waye, 'Owhire welle, or ill, as happyne may.' 210 L. 228] Four pennies, in Wyntown's time, weighed about one eightieth part of a pound of silver: how much they were in Macbeth's time, I suppose cannot be ascertained; but, in the reign of David 1st, they weighed one sixtieth of a pound. If we could trust to Regiam Majestatem, four pennies, in David's time, were the value of one third of a boll of wheat, or two lagene of wine, or four lagena of ale, or half a sheep. [Tables of Money and Prices in Ruddiman's Introduction to And Diplo. For the quantity of the legene compare VII, xvii, 35, with Fordun, p. 990: Sc. Chr. V. II, p. 223, wherein lagen is equivalent to ga lown in Wyntown.] It is reasonable to suppose, that the whole of the boat was hired for this sum The landing place on the south side was most probably at North Berwick, which belonged to the family of Fife, who founded the nunnery there.. D. Macpherson: Dat trettyd hir Barnys honestly, He tauld he caus of hys commyng. F 152 a Wes to se for he profyte Of há Barnys; and hys wille 240 245 Wes hare honowre to fullfille. L. 274.] The story of these two brothers of Malcolm, (see also c, xvi, of this book) and their refusal of the kingdom, which he, a bastard, obtained, seems to be a mere fiction. Yet, why it should have been invented, I can see no reason: surely not with intent to disgrace Malcolm, whose posterity never lost the crown, and where such eminent friends to the church. The trauscriber of the Harleian MS. not liking this story, so derogatory to the royal family, omitted it in his transcript, and afterwards, changing his mind, added it at the end of his book. All the Scottish writers, who followed Wyntown, have carefully sup pressed it. Of Malcolm's brothers only Donald, who reigned after him, is known to the Scottish historians: but another Melmare is mentioned in Orkneyinga Saga, [p. 176,] whose son Maddad, Earl of Athol, is called son of a King Donald by the genealogists, because they knew of no other brother of Malcolm. Perhaps Melmare is the same whom Kennedy calls Oberard, and says, that on the usurpation of Macbeth he fled to Norway, (more likely to his cousin the Earl of Orknay, which was a Norwegian country,) and was progenitor of an Italian fa He dowtyde to be made a Kyng. A Kyngis lyf, he sayd, suld be Makduff han sayd til hym agayne, Dan Malcolme sayd, Dare is mare, F 152 b Dat lettis me wyth he to fare: Makduff sayd, Cum on wyth me: Yhit mare Malcolme sayd agayne 'Ha, ha! Frend, I leve he harè,' 285 290 295 300 305 310 mily, called Cantelmi. [Dissertation on the Family of Stuart, p. 193, where he refers to records examined reg. Car. II,] in Scala Chronica [ap. Lel. V. I, p 529] there is a confused story of two brothers of Malcolm. These various notices seem sufficient to establish the existence of two brothers of Malcolm; but that either of them was preferable to him for age or legitimacy is extremely improbable. It is, however, proper to observe, that, in those days, bastardy was scarcely an impediment in the succession to the crown in the neighbouring kingdoms of Norway and Ireland; that Alexander, the son of this Malcolm, took a bastard for his queen; and that, in England, a victorious king, the contemporary of Malcolm, assumed bastard as a title in his charters. John Cumin, the competitor for the crown, who derived his right from Do. nald, the brother of Malcolm, knew nothing of this story, which, if true, would at least have furnished him an excellent argument. D. Macpherson. 'I will ná langare karpe wyth he, 315 'Cummyn, bot of he Dewylis Strynd, 'Dan langis to Trowth, and gud Fay. And gyvys wp hályly all Trettè. 'I cownt noucht he tohir twá 'Bot hys thryft he has sald all owte, Til Makduff of Fyf he Thayne Dis Malcolme awnsweryde han agayne, I sall be lele and stedfast ay, 320 .325 330 335 And ná les in he I trowe. For-hi my purpos hále is nowe, For my Fadrys dede to tá Dis Kyng Edward of Ingland F133 a Gawe hym hys Lewe, and hys gud wyll, And gret suppowale heycht hame tille, And helpe to wyn hys Herytage. On his hai tuke hane haire wayage. 350 And his Kyng han of Ingland Bad he Lord of Northwmbyrland, Schyr Sward, to rys wyth all hys mycht In Malcolmys helpe to wyn hys rycht. Dan wyth hame of Nothumbyrland 355 Dis Malcolme enteryd in Scotland, And past oure Forth, doun strawcht to Tay, L. 357.] The word "doun," taken in here from the Cotton MS. instead of "syne" in the Royal, affords us a tolerable plan of the route of Malcolm and his Northumbrian allies; which, as far as Perth, seems to be the same that Agri. |