A Scotch Copy of a Poem on Heraldry

Introduction

    The reader has seen that our gallant Sir Humphrey Gilbert would have Heraldry taught in his Achademy (pp. xi, 8). It is beyond question that our ancestors attributed much importance to the study of the art that recorded their descent and alliances; and, no doubt, one's namesakes with the Conqueror and Cœur de Lion thought much of their arms, if they had any, as their Caerlaverock follower had.
    This interest of our old men in the subject, is my only excuse for printing the 24th piece in this volume, a Poem on Heraldry (p. 93-102), about gules, and pales, and tortells, and masklewis, &c. &c., which are all Hebrew to me. A wonderful and fearful language it is that Heralds talk; but I've bought a little Grammar of Heraldry by Mr Cussans (Longmans, 1866), and hope, by the help of the woodcuts, to understand it some day. Well, in turning over the Harleian Catalogue, I came on the title of this Poem (vol. iii. 332, col. 1), and Mr Bond, the Keeper of the MSS, decided that it was in the same hand as the second treatise in its volume, Harl. 6149, which is described in the Catalogue as “A treatise of the Signification of Armory, . . . . and at the end is ‘Explicit iste liber honorabil. armig. Wilelm. civit. de Jordelleth als. marchemond herald,’ or something near it, with the date 1494.”
    Not much sense was to be made out of this; but a reference to the MS showed that the rubric printed in the Catalogue, though defaced in parts by dashes of black ink, was yet quite readable with a little trouble; and the ‘something near it’ of the Catalogue, proved to be:
    Explicit iste liber honorabili armigero Wilelmo cummyn de Inuerellochy1 alias Marchemond heraldo per ☞ [=manum] Ade loutfut2 Anno Domini MoCCCCo nonagesimo quarto mensis uero Septembris. [Harleian MS 6149, leaf 44.]
    Thus one of the many skews in the Harleian Catalogue was set straight. (Don't let any one abuse the first Cataloguer of a Collection for skews. For all Catalogues (as for all Indexes) one ought to be grateful: for those without mistakes, most grateful.)
    The questions then were, 1. Who was Sir William Cummyn? and, 2. was the Poem by him, or at least by a Scotchman, as from its language it seemed to be? The 2nd question was most kindly answered in the negative by a learned authority on Scotch Heraldry, whose name Mr David Laing mentioned to me, and who responded to the application of me, a stranger, by sending me the valuable notes printed on pages 102—104 below, and in them pointing out that certain marks of cadency mentioned in the poem were never used in Scotch Heraldry, though they were in English. The conclusion then forced on me was, that Adam Loutfut, Sir Wm. Cummyn's scribe, had copied the poem from an English original, and scottified it as he copied, in the same way as he has scottified in leaves 83—108 of his MS, A “Buk of thordre of Cheualry . . . . . . translatid out of Tranche in to Ynglis . . . . . . by me Willȝam Caxtonne duelling in Westmynstre;” which scottification I hope some day to print opposite Caxton's own text, to see what the worthy Adam — who sometimes copied f for s, c for t, and vice versâ, &c. &c. — has made of our rare old printer's southern speech.
    What made the question of the authorship more important was, that the writer of the poem tells us he has written a Siege of Thebes (l. 30), A Troy-Book (l. 36-9), and a Brut (l. 52); perhaps three books: perhaps only one, taking in the three stories generally told separately. Here are the lines; the reader can judge for himself:

1 ‘Innerellochy,’ say the Charters, p. xxii below.
2 or. lontfut.

The eldest, gret, most populus, mortal were,
wes at thebes, quhiche at linth I did write,
Quhare palamonne and arsite, woundit there,
Be ther cotis of armes knawin parfite,
Be heraldis war, sum sais, bot that I nyte,
ffor in thai dais heraldis war not create,
Nor that armes set in propir estate.


32



Bot eftir that troy, quhar so mony kingis war
Seging without, and other within the toune,
So mony princis, knychtis, and peple there,
as this my buk the most sentence did soune,
all thocht spedful in o conclusione,
That nobillis bere merkis, to mak be knawin,
ther douchtynes in dedis of armes schawin: . . . . 		36



40


Than troy distroyit, the werris endit, the lordis
I seir landis removit; and so brutus,
(his lif and dait my buk efter recordis,)
Come in brutane with folkis populus,
And brocht with him this werly merkis thus,
quhiche succedis in armes to this date;
Bot lang efter troy, heraldis war nocht creat.

52



56
    Now Lydgate wrote a Troy-Book and a Siege of Thebes. He may also have written a Brut of some kind; but I do not believe that he was the English author whom Loutfut scottified. The writer of the poem must surely have been a Herald's clerk, or a Herald of an inferior degree,—though as proud as a peacock of his order and his art, and his fellows, the salt of the earth,—for he thus speaks of the Heralds above him:
How thai1 be born, in quhat kindis, and quhare,
also be quhom, and eftir in excellence,
That I refer to my lordis to declair,
kingis of armes, and heraldis of prudens,
and persewantis,2 and grant my negligens
that I suld not attempe thus to commoune,
Bot of ther grace, correctioune, and pardoune, . . . .
196



200

202
And I confess my simple insufficiens:
llitil haf I sene, and reportit weil less,
of this materis to haf experience.
Tharfor, quhar I al neidful not express,


248

1 That is, planets, signs of the air, herbs, birds, fishes, borne as arms.
2 They, the 3rd and lowest order of Heralds, are yet above the writer.

In my waiknes, and not of wilfulnes,
my seid lordis correk me diligent,
To maid menis, or sey the remanent!



    Wanted, then, the author of the present poem and the Siege of Thebes, the Troy Book, and Brut, above named.     It is possible that he may have been a Frenchman, if the heraldry suits the French—rules as my Scotch authority tells me it does not, for many reasons, and especially that the classification of roundles was quite unknown in France,—for another treatise once in this collection of Sir Wm. Cummyn's, but now cut out, was translated for him from the French, by his obedient son in the office of Arms, Kintyre, Pursevant:

[Harleian MS 6149, leaf 78.]
    [H]eir eftyr folouis ane lytil trecty of the Instruccioun of the figuris of armes and of the blasoning of the samyn, eftir the fraynche oppinyon,1 translatit owt of fraynche in Scottis at the command of ane wirschepfull man, Wilzem Cumyn of Inuerellochquy, alias Marchemond herald, be his obedient sone in the office of armes, kintyre, purseuant, and vndir his correccioun, as efter folowis be cheptours
(The treatise itself is cut out from the MS.)
    Having looked through the MS and dipped into likely-seeming parts, I think it quite certain that the writer of the poem does not refer to any of the short tracts in this MS volume of Sir Wm. Cummyn's, in none of which tracts could he have written “at linth,” as he says, of the Theban War. Mr E. Brock, who has gone in like manner over the volume, is of the same opinion. In the 2nd tract in the volume, “the Signification of Armoury,”—the 1st is the frequent “Gaige of Battaill”—Julius Cæsar is spoken of, as in the poem (lines 57, 204), as the originator of Arms.
[Harl. MS 6149, leaf 5.]
    In the tyme that Iulius Cesar, emperour of romme, conquest Afferik, Sumtyme namyt the land lucyant in the partis of Orient, Rychtsua quhen pompe of romme conquest Ewrop, other wais callit the land of Ionnet, in the Occident, than war maid the rial officis til 1 MS oppimyon.
wnderstand and govern al thingis pertenyng to the craft of armes, and for to discut and juge the richtis that followis ther-appon. In the first wes constitut and ordanit be the said princis the office of counstable; Secoundly, the office of ammerall ; The third, the office of marschall; The ferd war maid the capitanys the fift, to be at jugement of armes the heraldis. and ilkane of thaim seruand in his degre.
    Passing over the 3rd tract in the volume, on the Habiliments of Knights, (leaf 44), and the 4th, on Funerals (leaf 48), we come to the 5th, Liber Armorum, of which Mr Brock says,
    ‘There is no account of any wars in the Liber Armorum,1 so far as I can see; but there is a fabulous story which traces the gradual rise of Arms, &c.2[’? S.U.] A similar story is given in ‘The First Fynding of Armes’ at leaf 140.3 It makes mention of Troy and certain Trojans.
    Here is an extract:—
[Harleian MS 6149, leaf 141, back.]
    And for to proced forther in our materis, the quhilk kind of peple of the forsad lemares; within certane process of ȝeris come our lady that I spak of before, the quhilk lemares wes trogelius dochter, that maid troye beforsaid quhether for the britons cornyfye (?), and wald be lawe of petigre chalaiñ [this is really a small letter n with macron. S.U.] kinrend of the vergin our lady, of the fader joachim, because thaj war troians, and come of troye be lynage of trogelius. To pas in our materis; Trogelius had thre sonnys in troy, The eldast wes callit arbaldus, The secound is callit Erewfilix, The third arbegraganus. [of whom] within vc ȝere, be rycht lynne come Ectour of troye, throuch al the warld anne of the ix worthiest. of the eldast sone arbaldus, efter the distructioune of troye xij ȝeris, be rycht lynne come brutus, of the quhilk rycht lyne of brutus within certane process of ȝeris come arthour, anne of the ix worthi, throuch al the warld be law of armes callit. Of the second sone, Erewfilix sarageñ [small letter n with macron. S.U.] in sertagia, efter the distructione of troe vjc ȝere xlviij; come Iulius Cesar, and enterit in brettane that tyme apon cace, mony wynter befor king arthour.

    1 A book of heraldry, superscribed ‘Incipit liber Armorum,’ the first chapter of which is, ‘How gentilmen shal be knowene from churles, and how thai fyrst began, and how Noye dyvyded the world in thre parts to his thre sonnes.’ Harl. Catal.
    2 The whole MS seems to be written by the same hand, except perhaps these two tracts: Art. 6, lf. 62, De coloribus in armis depictis et eorum nobilitate ac differencia. Art. 7, lf. 79, Heraldorum nomen et officium vnde extorsum sit Epistola, &c.
    3 “Here begynnys the first fynding of armes callit the origynall. . . . .”

    I repeat again, then, ‘Wanted, the author of our Poem and his three other Books!’
    To hark back to our 2nd question, p. xvii above, ‘Who was Sir William Cummyn of Inverellochy’? I The answer is given in the following extract from the Appendix to Mr George Seton's Law and Practice of Heraldry in Scotland, 1863, to which Mr David Laing was good enough to refer me, and which Appendix Mr Seton states to be greatly indebted to Mr Laing's researches1:
    ‘Sir William Cumyng of Inverallochy, Co. Aberdeen—c. 1512. Second son of William Cumyng of Culter and Inverallochy (?), by Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Meldrum of Fyvie, and fourth in descent from Jardine, second son of William Cumyng, Earl of Buchan, who got the lands of Inverallochy from his father in the year 1270. (Nisbet's Heraldry, ii. Appendix, p. 57. [See also Collections for a History of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff, vol.4, 1843, pp.455ff. S.U.]) Sir William appears to have held the office of Marchmont Herald in the year 1499 (Reg. Secreti Sigilli [p. 64, n. 455? See also p.277, n. 1817 and p,289, n. 1880. S. U.]); and the lands of Innerlochy were granted to him and Margaret Hay, his spouse, by a charter under the Great Seal, dated 18th January, 1503-4. He was knighted in 1507, and in a charter of glebe lands in favour of John Quhyte (31st January, 1513), he is described as “circumspectus vir Willms Cumyn de Innerlochy, Rex Armorum supremi domini nostri Regis.” (General Hutton's Transcripts, Adv. Lib.) His character of “circumspectus” (canny) is thus referred to by Bishop Leslie, in connection with the year. 1513:— “Leo fecialis Angli Regis responsum sapienter eludit.” (History of Scotland, 1578, p. 361.) In a deed dated 17th July, 1514, he is styled, “Willelmus Cumyng de Innerallochy miles, alias Leo Rex Armorum;” and again, in 1518, he is designed “Lioun King-of- Armes.” The following curious account of Cumyng's insult by Lord Drummond, in the year 1515, is from the Genealogie of the House of Drummond, compiled by the first Viscount Strathallan in 1681, and printed about thirty years ago:— “John Lord Drummond was a great promoter of the match betwixt his own grandchild, Archibald Earle of Angus, and the widdow Queen of King James the Fourth, Margaret Teudores; for he caused his own brother, Master Walter Drummond's sone, Mr John Drummond, dean of Dumblane and person of Kinnowl, solemnize the matrimonial bond in the Kirk of Kinnowl, in the year 1514. Bot this marriage begot such jealousie in the rulers of the State, that the Earle of Angus was cited to appear before the Council, and Sir William Cummin of Inneralochy, Knight, Lyon King-at-Armes, appointed to deliver the charge; in doeing whereof, he seemed to the Lord Drummond to have approached the Earle with more boldness than discretion, for which he (Lord D.) gave the Lyon a box on the ear; whereof he complained to John Duke of Albany,

1 See also the note, p. 102 below.

then newly made Governor to King James the Fifth, and the Governor, to give ane example of his justice at his first entry to his new office, caused imprison the Lord Drummond's person in the Castle of Blackness, and forfault his estate to the Crown for his rashness. Bot the Duke considering, after information, what a fyne man the Lord was, and how strongly allyed with most of the great families in the nation, wes well pleased that the Queen-mother and three Estates of Parliament, should interceed for him; so he was soone restored to his libbertie and fortune.”’—Page 478 (Appendix, Notices of the Lyon Kings-of-Arins), Seton's Law and Practice of Heraldry in Scotland, 1863.

    Mr David Laing writes:—
    “‘Cumming’ is the modern mode of spelling the name. In earlier times there are a great variety, such as Cumin, Cumine, Cuming, Cumyng, etc. The form in the Museum MS should be preferred.
    The following is copied from the List of Charters under the Great Seal.
Cumming alias Merch-
mond Herauld		 ⎰
⎱		 Carta Willielmo, et Margaretæ Hay ejus
  Sponsæ, Terrarum de Innerlochy, 18
  Janrij 1503
Cumyn alias Merch-
mond Herauld 		⎰
⎱		 Carta Willielmo, super Maritagijs Suorum
  hæredum 4 Aprs 1507 [See Collections for a History of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff, vol.4, 1843, pp.458ff.; see also ibid. pp.456ff. S. U.]
Cumyng filio ⎰
⎱		 Carta Willielmo, filio et hæredi Wllielmi
  Cumyng de Innerellochy, Militis, Terra-
  rum de Innerelochy &c.” 14 Julij 1513 [See Illustrations of the topography and antiquities of the shires of Aberdeen and Banff, vol. 4, 1847, pp.133ff. and previous pages. S. U.]

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