James Stewart

“ Stewart was moved with compassion, perhaps with fear. He slipt the girth-buckle, and Rob, dropping down from behind the horse's croupe, dived, swam, and escaped, pretty much as described in the Novel. When James Stewart came on shore, the Duke hastily demanded where his prisoner was; and as no distinct answer was returned, instantly suspected Stewart's connivance at the escape of the Outlaw ”

“ He was succeeded in the peerage by his grandson Andrew, who was gentleman of the bedchamber to James VI, and governor of Edinburgh Castle, and who in 1615 resigned his title to Sir James Stewart of Killeith, eldest son of James, earl of Arran; Andrew Stewart was subsequently, on 7 Nov. 1619, created Baron Castle Stewart in the peerage of Ireland, and he died in 1632. ”

“ Here he dined with Sir James Stewart, and was extremely cheerful and hearty, but said, ‘there was never a schoolboy more desirous to have the play than I am to have leave of this world.’ He made his will on 17 Aug., and died on 19 Aug. ”

“ It is sometimes given to a man in all light-heartedness, in what seems the spontaneous way of his own impulses and pleasures, to do what is best for his surroundings and his time, without any apparent{199} strain of self sacrifice or gravity of duty. James Stewart, the fourth of his name, was one of these happy and beautiful natures: and though his life was one of almost unbroken prosperity and brightness, yet no man can say that his stewardry was not nobly held, and to the benefit of his kingdom and people. ”

“ But these tenants (as I was saying) are doubtless partly driven to it. James Stewart in Duror (that’s him they call James of the Glens) is half-brother to Ardshiel, the captain of the clan; and he is a man much looked up to, and drives very hard. And then there’s one they call Alan Breck——”
“Ah!” cried I, “what of him?”
“What of the wind that bloweth where it listeth?” said Henderland. “He’s here and awa’; here to-day and gone to-morrow: a fair heather-cat. He might be glowering at the two of us out of yon whin-bush, and I wouldna wonder! Ye’ll no’ carry such a thing as snuff, will ye?” ”

“ For above all his knightly and kingly qualities, his studies in chivalry and statesmanship, which prepared him to fill the throne of Scotland as no man save his great ancestor Bruce had yet filled it, James Stewart was a poet of no mean rank, not unworthy to be named even in the presence of Chaucer, and well worthy of the place which he has kept in literature. ”

“ Stewart was the son of Anthony Stewart, before mentioned, a Loyalist gentleman from Maryland. He was Solicitor General and afterwards a Judge of the Supreme Court. He married a sister of the late Chief Justice, Sir B. Haliburton. Judge Stewart's residence was the yellow brick house at the corner of Pleasant Street and Morris Street, afterwards the residence of Mr. Alexander Stewart, Master of the Rolls, but not related to Judge James Stewart. The late Reverend James Stewart, of Dartmouth, was his grandson.
[60] Among Field's portraits remaining in Halifax, are those of the Hon. ”

“ The publication of a statement so particular, and probably so correct, is a debt due to the memory of James Stewart; the victim, it would seem, of his own violent passions, but perhaps incapable of an act of premeditated treachery. ”

“ And William Stewart is Erle of Marr,
And his father-in-law dwells with him indeed.
=
B
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'SPEAK for yoursell, John Stewart,' he did say,
'Speak for yoursell, John Stewart,' he did say,
'Speak for yoursell, John Stewart,' he did say,
'And soon an answer I will gie to thee;
The highest service I can give thee
Is to wait on my daughter Ailly.
'. . . . .
. . . . .
If ever I gie a man a penny wage,
I'm sure, John Stewart, ye shall hae three.'
'I speak not for mysell,' John Stewart he did say,
'I speak for a lord of a higher degree ”

“ Captain Stewart was afterwards successively appointed to the Dart ship-sloop, and the Snap and Epervier brigs, stationed at the Leeward islands: his commission as a commander, bears date Feb. 15, 1808. We next find him commanding the Sheldrake of 10 guns, and proceeding, in company with the Tartar frigate, to the relief of Anholt, an island in the Cattegat, forming a very important point of communication between Great Britain and the continent,and then threatened with an attack by a formidable Danish force under the orders of Major Melsteat. ”

“ And then bespake William Stewart,
These were the words said hee:
'If thou beate thy daughter for my sake,
Thou'st beate a hundred men and mee.'
Then bespake Iohn Stewart-+-
Lord! an angry man was hee-+-
'O churle, if thou wouldest not haue macht with my brother,
Thou might haue answerd him curteouslye.'
'O hold thy peace, Iohn Stewart,
And chamber thy words now, I bidd thee;
If thou chamber not thy words soone,
Thou'st loose a good service; soe shalt thou doe me.'
'Marry! hang them that cares,' saies Iohn Stewart,
'Either for thy service or for thee ”

“ He continued in office until his death, which took place suddenly in August 1700. Sir James Stewart, lord advocate, wrote of him at the time to Carstares, ‘He was a good man, and is much regretted’ (ib.) He married, first, a daughter of Sir Alexander Dalmahoy ”

“ The Earl of Arran was dismissed; the colonel lost his office of captain of the guard, and was given into the custody of Maxwell, who took him to Dumfries. Stewart quickly accommodated himself to the change of circumstances, made friends with Maxwell, reappeared for a short time at court to the disgust of the church party, and slipped away or was dismissed to the continent with a secret mission from James. He first appeared in Denmark, where he added the Danish king to the list of royal suppliants for the restoration of his wife's dowry ”

“ Albany's eldest son, Robert, earl of Fife, died about 1420; the youngest son James escaped to the highlands, collected a band of freebooters, and attacked the burgh of Dumbarton, which he sacked and gave to the sword, killing, among others, the king's uncle, Sir John Stewart of Dundonald, known as ‘the Red Stewart.’ He then retired to the highlands, but, being hard pressed, made his escape to Ireland, where he married one of the Macdonalds, and had a son James, ancestor of the Stewarts of Ardvoirlech. ”

“ Fontenay reported to Mary Stuart that James, according to the king's own account, valued Stewart simply as a fighting man, and had said that the colonel, though devoid of intelligence or gift of speech, was a brave and faithful servant. On one occasion Stewart had forgotten himself, and the king brought him to his knees by threatening to reduce him to the coquin et bélître that he once was. Stewart, however, as the king must have soon discovered, possessed considerable diplomatic skill. ”

“ James had already griefs enough against the family of his cousin without this startling discovery; and his "gud vult" would seem rather to have been the serious self-control of a man who was biding his time than any pretence of friendliness with his unfaithful relations and stewards. Amid the early pageants and festivities it is indeed recorded that he knighted Walter Stewart among the other candidates for that honour, the flower of the noble youth, a band of twenty-six gentlemen of the best houses in Scotland ”

“ The first Earl of Athol of the name of Stewart was constituted Lieutenant to King James III. (1457) ; and for his defeating, and bringing to submission, Mac-Donald, Lord of the Isles, who had rebelled, he had a special grant of several lands, and the above Motto added to his Arms [309] , which seems to mean, Go forth, be successful, and fill the Fetters with the Feet of all other rebellious Subjects; for I understand "Fortune" to be a verb, and chosen probably for the sake of the alliteration. One appendage to the Arms of Murray, probably received from Stewart, has an allusion to the Motto ”

“ Majesty, exclaimed, ‘He’s gone!’ and then turning aside, he added, in a somewhat lower voice, ‘He’s gone!—Would he were the King!’ So, and please your Majesty, did mine ears report his words.”
“Ha!” exclaimed James, with an air of great dissatisfaction, “Ar’t sure that he so spake? From all that thou hast seen, as well as heard at Drummin, it would seem to us that both thine eyes and thine ears have been wonderfully sharp to pick up evil against Sir Walter Stewart. ”

“ A proud man was my father that day, God rest him! and I think he had the cause. I'll never can deny but what Robin was something of a piper," he added; "but as for James More, the de'il guide him for me!"
"One thing we have to consider," said I. "Was Charles Stewart right or wrong? Is it only me they're after, or the pair of us?"
"And what's your ain opinion, you that's a man of so much experience?" said he.
"It passes me," said I.
"And me too," says Alan. "Do ye think this lass would keep her word to ye?" he asked. ”

“ The enemy is therein stated to have been defeated with the loss of four gun-vessels, each mounting one long 24-pounder and 4 howitzers. On the 8th of the same month, Captain Stewart addressed an official letter to Captain Pater, of which the following is a copy:–
“I beg leave to inform you, that H.M. sloop under my command came up with the rear of the enemy’s gun-boats about six o’clock this morning, which we immediately brought to close action, and I am happy to say No. 2 and No. 5 struck to us: they each mount one long 24-pounder and one 32-pounder canonade, and are manned with 35 men each. ”

“ Mr. Stanton was a New Brunswick artist of fine taste and decided skill. Mr. Dole also saved some of his water-colours, notably those by Bell Smith and Frantz. The author lost an excellent drawing illustrating an idea in Thackeray, and a number of clever caricatures from the pencil of an amateur artist, Mr. Forbes Torrance, of Como, besides several engravings of merit, and a massive bronze figure representing Painting. Mr. Henry Vaughan lost his large costly painting from the John Miller collection, of Liverpool, England. Mr. James Stewart lost his whole collection of paintings ”

“ For I think my traffic with his lordship is little likely to agree with my health. There's just the one thing clear, that I have to give my evidence; for I hope it'll save Alan's character (what's left of it) , and James's neck, which is the more immediate."
He was silent for a breathing-space, and then, "My man," said he, "you'll never be allowed to give such evidence."
"We'll have to see about that," said I; "I'm stiff-necked when I like."
"Ye muckle ass!" cried Stewart, "it's James they want; James has got to hang--Alan too, if they could catch him--but James whatever! ”

“ It [Pg 376] seems possible that Stewart met Bothwell, when he was in Denmark, in the spring of the year, and induced him to arrange a conspiracy with his cousin, Patrick Hepburn. Before Hepburn was taken, the Lyon Herald, on August 2, fled to Dumbarton, where he was safe under the protection of Lord Fleming, then holding Dumbarton Castle for Mary. [408] The Herald ‘was suspecte of conspiracy against the life of the Regent, the Earll of Moray.’ He lost his place as Lyon King at Arms, and Sir David Lindsay was appointed to the office, held under James V. by his poet namesake. ”

“ He returned towards the Queen’s apartment in deep thought, and he had entered it fully, before the notes of the music that still sounded in it had power to rouse him from his abstraction. Sir Walter Stewart still sat near the Queen’s footstool, singing to the accompaniment of his lute, and her Majesty and her maids of honour were still eagerly occupied in listening.
“Ha!” cried King James, as he recovered perfect consciousness of the scene before him, and speaking with a highly disturbed air and [96] tone ”

“ He died on 8 March 1617. By his wife, Nichola (d. 1614) , daughter of Sir James Somerville of Cambusnethan, he had three sons: William (d. 1638) , who succeeded him as second Lord Blantyre, and was grandfather of Alexander Stewart, the fifth lord [q. v.] ; Sir James, who fought a duel with Sir George Wharton at Islington on 8 Nov. 1609, when both combatants were killed (see Gent. Mag. 1800, ii. 1019) ; Walter, a doctor of medicine and father of Frances Teresa Stewart (la belle Stuart) [see Stuart] , and a daughter Anne, married to John, eighth lord Abernethy of Salton. ”

“ On the 6th Oct. following, one of the Dictator’s boats, under the command of Lieutenant Duell, captured a Danish lugger, manned with 13 men (including a commissioned officer) , 2 of whom were slain and 3 wounded. The British had not a man hurt.
Captain Stewart’s next appointment was May 5, 1813, to the Amphion frigate, on the North Sea station. ”

“ George Stevenson [5] make it clear that, while he was born not later than 1545, he belonged to a younger generation of the Hessilheid Montgomeries than the one with which he has hitherto been connected, and that his mother, who died after a long widowhood in 1583, was a great granddaughter of Sir John Stewart of Dernely, first Earl of Lennox, from whom James and d'Aubigny were also directly descended. The poet was thus a member of the Stewart clan, and his kinship with the King helps to explain the favor in which he stood at court. ”

“ It will arm us against the vulgarity of a self-conscious exhibitionism. "No man," declared James Denney, "can give at once the impressions that he himself is clever and that Jesus Christ is mighty to save." Above all, it will inspire us to make our preaching "a living sacrifice, which is our reasonable service." It will drive us to our knees. It will baptize every sermon in the spirit of importunate prayer. ”

“ Writing winna do it—a letter canna look, and pray, and beg, and beseech, as the human voice can do to the human heart. A letter's like the music that the ladies have for their spinets—naething but black scores, compared to the same tune played or sung. ”