A history of the house of Douglas from the earliest times down to the legislative union of England and Scotland . e ; iii. 215. In 18S3 I was present at the opening of a canopied tomb in the choirof the ruined cathedral church of Whithorn. Witliin a solid stone coflinbelow were two skeletons, one being that of a very tall powerful man. Thedecoration of the canopy corresponds with the fifteenth century style, and possiblywe viewed here the mortal remains of Bell-the-Cat. CHARACTER OF BELL-THE-CAT 45 actions, sober and moderate in his desires. . One faulthe had, that he was too much given to wom
A history of the house of Douglas from the earliest times down to the legislative union of England and Scotland . e ; iii. 215. In 18S3 I was present at the opening of a canopied tomb in the choirof the ruined cathedral church of Whithorn. Witliin a solid stone coflinbelow were two skeletons, one being that of a very tall powerful man. Thedecoration of the canopy corresponds with the fifteenth century style, and possiblywe viewed here the mortal remains of Bell-the-Cat. CHARACTER OF BELL-THE-CAT 45 actions, sober and moderate in his desires. . One faulthe had, that he was too much given to women, otherwisethere was little or no-thing that was we have learnt longago to discount a greatdeal that flowed fromthe hireling quill of theLaird of Godscroft; itis more discouragingto find Sir WilliamEraser, with amplermaterial before him,complaining that Tyt-ler judged Angus tooharshly, and pleadingthat historical noticesof this earl are tooscanty to supply a just estimate of his character. Eraser,too, held the Douglas brief, but he usually showed morescientific impartiality in discharging Fig. 13.— of Archibald Douglas,5tli Earl of Angus (1463-1514). Few things, says Mr. Andrew Lang, with franker judgment—few thingsin Scottish history have been more disguised in popular books than the conductof the house of Douglas. The comradeship of Bruce and the good Lord Jameshas thrown a glamour over the later Douglases—men princely in rank, daring inthe field, but often bitterly anti-national. The partiality of Hume of Godscroft,their sennachie or legendary historian, the romances of Pitscottie, the ignoranceor prejudice of Protestant writers like Knox and Buchanan, the poetry of Scott,and the platonic Protestantism of Mr. Froude, have concealed the selfishtreachery of the house of Angus. One need not become devils advocate to pronouncethe career of Bell-the-Cat to have been in most of itsfeatures deplorable, and in none of them glorious. As stated above, the 5
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectdouglas, bookyear1902
