she escaped from Borthwick, is taken from a letter of James Beaton, the Archbishop of Glasgow, written to his brother Andrew, for the information of that active prelate, dated 17th June, 1567. A. D. On 11th June, Morton, Mar, Hume, and Lindsay, with 1567. other inferior barons, and attended by nine hundred or a thousand horse, on a sudden surrounded the Castle of Borthwick, where Bothwell was in company with the Queen. Bothwell had such early intelligence of their enterprise, that he had time to ride off with a very few attendants; and the insurgent nobles, when they became aware of his escape, retreated to Dalkeith, and from thence to Edinburgh, where they had friends who declared for them, in spite of the efforts of Queen Mary's partisans. The latter, finding themselves the weaker party, retreated to the castle, while the provost and the armed citizens, to whom the defence of the town was committed, did not, indeed, open their gates to the insurgent lords, but saw them forced without offering opposition. These sad tidings were carried to Mary by Beaton, the writer of the letter, who found her still at Borthwick, "so quiet, that there was none with her passing six or seven persons." She had probably calculated on the citizens of Edinburgh defending the capital against the insurgents; when this hope failed, she resolved on flight. "Her majesty," says the letter, "in men's clothes, booted and spurred, departed that same night from Borthwick to Dunbar: whereof no man knew, save my lord duke (i. e. Bothwell, created the Duke of Orkney), and some of his servants, who met her majesty a mile from Borthwick, and conveyed her to Dunbar." Wemay gather from these particulars, that, although the confederated lords had declared against Bothwell, they had not as yet adopted the purpose of imprisoning Queen Mary herself. When Bothwell's escape was made known, the blockade of Borthwick was instantly raised, although the place had neither garrison nor means of defence. The more audacious enterprise of making the Queen prisoner, had not been adopted by the insurgents until the event of the incidents at Carberry-hill showed such to have been the Scottish Queen's unpopularity at the time, that any attempt might be hazarded against her person or liberty, without the immediate risk of its being resented by her subjects. There seems to have been an interval of nearly two days betwixt the escape of Bothwell from Borthwick Castle, and the subsequent flight of the Queen in disguise to Dunbar. If, during that interval, Mary could have determined on separating her fortunes from those of the deservedly detested Bothwell, her page in history might have closed more happily. John Knox gives the following account of the same incident and its consequences. The nobles, who proposed to set up James the Sixth, had assembled at Stirling, while the Queen and Bothwell were raising men in Lothian with a view of marching. "The lords failing of their design at Borthwick Castle, went to Edinburgh, quherof they made thameselfis masters easely, having the affections of the people, notwithstanding the Erle of Huntly and Archbishop of Saint Androis perswasioun to the contrary : These two, with their associates, wer constrained to retire to the castle, quhere they wer received by Sir James Balfour, left there by Bothwell." As the fifth Lord Borthwick was a faithful adherent of Queen Mary, his great-grandson, John, the eighth lord, was a follower of the king during the Great Civil War; he was not, however, a pure royalist, or, as their enemies termed them, a malignant, but adhered to the Scottish Parliament, and his name is to be found in the Committee of Estates, 1649; and on the 15th March, in the same important year. Upon this occasion Borthwick Castle, with all the other strong houses in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, was garrisoned for the king, which greatly straitened the invading English army under Cromwell, and, joined to the cautious tactics of Lesley, compelled Oliver to a retreat from Edinburgh, which, but for the insolent presumption and pragmatical ignorance of the Presbyterian ministers, would have been both disgraceful and destructive. But when these false prophets had, by their meddling interference, occasioned the fatal battle of Dunbar, and the surrender of Edinburgh, the detached fortresses in Mid-Lothian fell one by one into the hands of the English. Borthwick Castle seems to have held out gallantly, and the garrison employed themselves to the last in annoying the victorious army. This soon drew upon them the vengeance of Cromwell, who sent the following characteristic summons, dated at Edinburgh, 18th November, 1650, and endorsed-"For the Governor off Borthwick Castle -These." "SIR, "I thought fitt to send this trumpett to you to let you know, that if you please to walk away with your company, and deliver the house to such as I shall send to receive it, you shall have libertie to carry off your arms and goods, and such other necessaries as you have. You harboured such parties in your house as have basely and inhumanely murdered our men; if you necessitate me to bend my cannon against you, you must expect what I doubt you will not be pleased with. I expect your present answer, and rest "Your servant, O. CROMWELL." Notwithstanding this very significant epistle, the governor of Borthwick Castle, supposed to be Lord Borthwick himself, held out the fortress, untill artillery was opened upon it, and then surrendered it upon honourable terms. The effect of Cromwell's battery still remains, his fire having destroyed a part of the freestone facing of the eastern side of the castle. It is said, the family repeatedly afterwards attempted to repair the injury which the place had sustained, but without success; for, owing to the difficulty of uniting the modern and the ancient masonry, the former always fell down; a circumstance, if true, which argued little skill in the art of building, since nothing could be so easy as to cut into the old wall, so as to afford a sufficient foundation for the new work. After the death of the last-mentioned Lord Borthwick, the title remained in abeyance; nor has it yet been resumed by any claimant who has been able to make good his pretensions in the House of Lords. The estates belonging to the family have been at one time im- executed August 1st, 1538, there are comprehended the No. 158. Moat of Lochquarret, the castle of the same, called the Castle of Borthwick; half of Bateland, in the county of Edinburgh; Borthwick, in Selkirkshire; Legerwood, Glengelt, Colinlaw, and Brownhouse, in Berwickshire; Ormiston, Herriot, Herriotmuir, Hethpule, and Whitfield, in the county of Peebles; and Aberdour, in Aberdeenshire; which lands, by this deed, are destined to William, Lord of Borthwick; John Borthwick, his son, and apparent heir; Sir John Borthwick of Gordonhall; and William Borthwick of Crookstone, and their heirs-male respectively. Besides the descendants immediately connected by entail with the family succession, there were others of the name who were distinguished during the reigns of the several monarchs of the Stuart family. Such was Robert Borthwick, eminent for his skill both in founding and using artillery, at a time when both arts were little understood. He was Master of Artillery to James IV., and cast, among other pieces, the beautiful train of guns called the Seven Sisters, so much admired by the victors whose prize they became on the fatal field of Flodden. He put on his guns this rude legend "Machina sum Scoto Borthwic fabricata Roberto." Another person of the name was remarkable for using upon his death-bed the saying which is proverbially termed "David Borthwick's Testament." He was bred an advocate, and acquired many large estates, which he put into his son Sir James Borthwick's possession during his own life. The young heir proved a prodigal, and spent all. Ballencrieff, the last estate which remained, was sold while the old lawyer was dying. He heard the evil news, and only replied, "What can I say?-I bequeath every man to the devil that begets a fool, and does not make a fool of him." We return to the principal line of Borthwick. The last direct heirmale having, as already mentioned, deceased in the person of the ninth Lord Borthwick, in 1672, the castle and barony became the property of John Dundas of Harvistone, nephew of the deceased Lord Borthwick, and grandson of Sir James Dundas, of the distinguished family of Arnistoun. It passed afterwards by purchase to the family of Dalrymple of Cousland, and from thence to that of Mitchelson of Middleton. By a late sale, the castle has been acquired by John Borthwick, Esq. of Crookstone, passing thus once more into a branch of the ancient family, from which the ruins derived their name, and who, as we believe, possesses a claim to inherit their ancient baronial honours. It is at any rate pleasant to consider, that so fine a specimen of ancient architecture, interesting also through so many remembrances, and, if deserted, still far from being ruinous, is now in possession of a family so deeply interested in its preservation. To render such a castle habitable, however entire the walls, and pleasant the site, is usually impossible, without altogether destroying its character as a memorial of antiquity. But that the work of actual destruction, and even the slow progress of decay, should be arrested by timely and reverential attention, is what the historical antiquary will doubtless expect from a family possessing so proud a memorial of the grandeur of their ancestors. And it is with pleasure that we conclude this imperfect article, on one of the most beautiful and entire specimens of castle-architecture in Scotland, with expressing our conviction that it is now in the hands of a proprietor equally interested in its preservation, and disposed to attend to it. THE GREAT HALL OF BORTHWICK CASTLE. "Is," says Nisbet, "so large and high in the roof, that a man on horseback might turn a spear in it with all the ease imaginable." The ceiling of this stately apartment consists of a smooth vault of ashlerwork, the joining of the stones being curiously fitted together. The roof has been painted with such devices as occur in old illuminations. There can be still traced the representation of a castle, with its battlements, towers, and pinnacles, and the legend, in Gothic characters, Ve Temple of Honor, is distinctly legible. Stately and magnificent in itself, the Hall of Borthwick, as appears from our sketch of the history of the castle, is no less rich in associations. Here we may suppose the Abbot of Unreason was permitted to exercise his frolics, till the applause with which they were received encouraged him to set his mimic authority in competition with that of the Primate of Scotland. Here "The stern protector of the conquered land" received the keys of the castle, into which his cannon had forced an entrance. But, above all, the image of Queen Mary feasting with her unworthy Bothwell, startled from revelry by the voice of insurrection, and finally obliged to escape in the disguise of a page, comes before us with that deep interest which is excited by every vicissitude of her melancholy history. It is pleasing to reflect, that so fine a remnant of antiquity as Borthwick Castle, is now the property of those most interested in saving it from falling to ruins. It is very capable of being rendered habitable; but Mr Borthwick of Crookstone, the proprietor, has, with better taste, determined to preserve the castle in its present state. The attempt to ingraft modern accommodations upon the simplicity of an ancient castle, is certain to destroy the points which render it interesting to an antiquary, without always answering the purpose intended by the inhabitant. So that, in the general case, it is more judicious to arrest the progress of decay, and preserve ancient buildings in the style and form in which they were originally built, than to change their appearance, and injure their historical interest, by attempting to metamorphose them into modern places of residence. TOWN OF DALKEITH. THIS thriving town is a burgh of barony, lying about six miles from Edinburgh, and is most beautifully situated betwixt the rivers called the North and South Esk, which here approach close to each other, previous to their actual junction in the Park belonging to Dalkeith-House, about a mile and a half below the town. In ancient times, the town of Dalkeith, as was almost universally the fashion in Scotland, run close up to, and was terminated by, the baronial castle, which served as a citadel to the town, and in time of need was garrisoned by the inhabitants. But the principal street, which is wide and handsome, is now terminated by the gate at the head of the avenue to the mansion, so that there is some interval between the town and the house, or, as it is popularly termed, the palace. The etymology of the name cannot be easily ascertained. Besides the barony of Keith, in Lothian, Inch-Keith, and other compounds of the same word, occur. It has passed into the proper name of a distinguished tribe, whose head was the Earl Mareschal of Scotland. But though the family of Keith probably took their name from the barony so called, of which they long held the property, that circumstance will not help us to the original sense of the word. Some have supposed Keith equivalent to the British word Bath, signifying battle, in which case Dalkeith would mean the field of battle, InchKeith the island of battle, and so forth. The learned Mr Chalmers |