THE EXCHEQUER ROLLS OF SCOTLAND.* THE historical period covered by
this portly volume ought to have an exceptional interest for all Scotchmen who know that dullness in annals is not always the same as unfruitfulness, but sometimes, at all events, means the reverse. It includes the nine years after Flodden, during which the Duke of Albany was Regent of Scotland, and synchronises as near as may be with the Papacy of Leo X. It was, as the very careful editors of this volume point out, a time of transition and turmoil, " during which the country, favoured by unexpected causes, recovered to a considerable extent from the shock of Flodden." The distinguishing feature of the period, how- ever, par excellence, was the struggle between the French Party and the English Party at the Scottish Court, which had very remarkable results, and which continued for fully a century and a half. At this time, too, the nobles of Scotland—perhaps the most troublesome noblesse that ever cursed a country—were perniciously active. During the time covered by this book, "their intrigues and conflicts pro- duced several romantic and some tragic incidents :—the secret marriage of Margaret Tudor to Angus ; her vain but natural endeavour to keep the custody of her infants ; the executions of the Humes ; the murder of De la Bastie ; the fight of Cleanse the Causeway ; the reconciliation of the Queen with Albany, and her quarrel with Angus." At this time, too, the lines of demarcation were drawn between the English and the French party in Scotland, which subsequently became a con- flict between Reformers and Roman Catholics, and ended in the victory of the more powerful faction, led in England by Burghley and in Scotland by Knox. The two leading figures, however, that are portrayed (through their pecuniary transactions) in these Exchequer Rolls—which are, speaking roughly, a detailed representation of Scotch national revenue from all sorts of sources, and of Scotch national expendi- ture upon all sorts of objects—are unquestionably the Queen Regent Margaret Tudor, and Albany, who succeeded her in the government of Scotland, and alternately thwarted her and promoted her interests. Margaret had some of the strong and many of the weak points of her family, including among the latter caprice and sensual passion. It was probably in obedience to both that she contracted her second un- fortunate marriage with Angus, which caused her fortunes, and almost her person, to be tossed about between rival factions of nobles. When she became reconciled to Albany, scandal took great liberties with their names, and one of the most important investigations in this volume—pursued partly in the preface and partly in an appendix—relates to a remark- able picture in the possession of the Marquis of Bute at Cardiff. In it Margaret is represented vis-a-vis to Albany. But a satiric, if not sinister, effect is given to the picture by the introduction into it of a third figure—that of a man behind Margaret with three-quarter face—pointing to a butterfly fluttering between her and Albany. On a table in the foreground of the picture are some coins, a round box with the lid open, an ink-horn, sealing-wax, and feather pens. The conclusion come to in the preface is that the picture represents "no love-affair, but some money transaction, possibly the handing over of the sum mentioned in these accounts in return for a mortgage on her estates." The writer of the appendix suggests that the third figure in the picture is meant to represent an English envoy at the Scotch Court,—possibly the Clarencieux herald, who un- doubtedly visited Scotland during the period covered by this volume.
Of necessity these Exchequer Rolls, " extant from 6th July, 1513, to 31st May, 1522, which were audited at Edinburgh at various dates from 4th July, 1514, to 31st May, 1522," are of interest mainly to Scotchmen. But the Battle of Flodden is of interest to students upon this side of the Tweed as well as upon the other ; and a touch of pathos is communicated to the book by a list of the widows of the nobles who fell at Flodden, and some of whom took their husbands' places in connection with the affairs of Scotland. A sociological. interest also attaches to the volume. It shows us the origins and first growth of certain of the leading professions in Scot- land. Surgeons not unfrequently figure in these accounts. Thus we find a payment of £2412s., under a grant of James * The Bxohequer Rona of Scotland. Edited by George Burnett, LL.D., and A. J. G. Mackay M.A. Vol. XIV., A.D. 1.513-1122. Edinburgh : H. H. General Register Douse, 18P8. IV., charged on the burgh of Cullen to a medical graduate as a Professor in the King's College of Aberdeen in 1515. In 1542 four army surgeons were sent to the Borders for "curing of all persons that happened to be hurt by Englishmen." There was not, however, at this date a medical school in Scotland, in the important and most honourable sense of to-day—and perhaps still more of yesterday. Paris was the Mecca of pilgrims passionately in search of health at that time. The growth of another and equally im- portant profession is marked by the payment of £40 as the fee of James Wishart, the King's Advocate, in certain accounts. The Lord-Advocate of to-day corresponds to the King's Advocate of the early portion of the sixteenth century, and, as is well known, is the leading legal officer of the Crown in Scotland. But, at the period covered by this volume, he did not take rank as one of the officers of State ; he was one of the King's servants, and was paid less than the functionary known as the King's Tutor. We have, however, but indicated the historical value of a book which will be thoroughly appreciated even by such as read merely the introductory matter and the appendices, having no time to make themselves masters of the Latin of the Accounts themselves.
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