REGENT MURRAY?S FUNERAL. 143 St. Giles?s Church.]
Beware of injured Rothwellhaugh !
? The death-shot parts-the charger springs-
Wild rises tumult?s startling roar !
And Murray?s plumy helmet rings-
Rings on the ground to rise no mare ! ?
When his remains were committed to the tomb in
which they still lie, the thousands who crowded
the church were moved to tears by the burning
eloquence of Knox. ?Vpoun the xiiij day of the
moneth of Februar, 1570,? says the ? Diurnal of
Occurrents? ? my lord Regentis corpis, being brocht
in ane bote be sey, frz Stirling to Leith, quhair it
was keipit in Johne Wairdlaw his hous, and thereafter
cary it to the Palace of Holyrudhous, wes
transportit fra the said Palace to the College Kirk
the Regent Murray, the Regent Morton, and his
great rival, John Stewart Earl of Athole, are buried ;
and adjoining the aisle where the sorely mangled
remains of the great Marquis of Montrose were
so royally interred on the 7th of January, 1661.
The Regent?s tomb, now fully restored, stands
on the west side of the south transept, and on
many accounts is an object of peculiar interest.
Erected to the memory of one who played so conspicuous
a part in one of the most momentous
periods of Scottish history, it is well calculated to
interference of the General Assembly, and a riot
ensued.
The portion of the church which contained
these monuments was eftered by a door adjoining
the Parliament Close, and, as it was never shut,
?the gude regent?s aisle,? as it was named,
became a common place for appointments and
loungers. Thus French Paris-Queen Mary?o
servant-in his confession respecting the murder
of King Henry, stated that during the communings
which took place before that dark deed was resolved
on, he one day ?took his mantle and sword
and went to prumencr (walk) in the high church.?
Probably in consequence of the veneration entertained
for the memory of the Regent, his tomb
rouse many a stirring association.
All readers of
history know how the Regent
fell under the bullet
of Bothwellhaugh, at Linlithgow,
in avenging the
wrongs inflicted on his
wife, the heiress of Woodhouselee.
As the ?Cadyow
Ballad ? has it-
? ?Mid pennoned spears a stately
Proud Murray?s plumage
Scarce could his trampling
So close the minions crow-
? From the raised vizor?s shade,
Dark rolling, glanced the
And his steel truncheon waved
Seemed marshalling the iron
?But yet his saddened brow
A passing shade of doubt
Some fiend was whispering in
grove,
floated high ;
charger move,
ded nigh.
his eye,
ranks along ;
on high,
throng,
confessed,
and awe ;
his breast,
~
of Sanctgeill, in this manner; that is to say,
.i?illiam Kirkaldie of Grange, Knycht, raid fra the
said palace in dule weid, bearing ane pensal!
quherin was contenit ane Reid Lyon; after him
followit Colvill of Cleishe, Maister (of the) Houshold
to the said Regent, with ane quherin was
contenit my lords regentis armes and bage.? The
Earls of Mar, Athole, Glencairn, the Lords
Ruthven, Methven, and Lindsay, the Master of
Graham, and many other nobles, bore the body
through the church to the grave, where it ?was
JOHN KNOX?S PULPIT, ST. GILES?S.
(From tk Scottish Anfaquarinn Museum).
buryit in Sanct Anthonie?s
yle.? On the front of the
restored tomb is the ancient
brass plate, bearing
an inscription composed
by George Buchanan :-
?( Iur060 Stuvarto, Mwm?e Cornifi,
Scotie Prwqi;
Vim, a t a t i s szw, longe opt*
mo : a6 inirnik,
0mni.- rnemorie deterrimis, ex
insdiis exfindo,
Ceu pafn? commwni, pafna
mcprens $omit.??
Opposite, on the north side
of the west transept, was
the tomb in which the Earl
of Athole, Chancellor of
Scotland, who died suddenly
at Stirling, not without
suspicion of poison,
was interred with great
solemnity on the 4th of
July, 1579. A cross was
used on this occasion, and
as flambeaux were borne,
according to Calderwood,
the funeral probably occurred
at night ; these paraphernalia
led to the usual
