It Seems Peculiarly
Necessary And Proper, However, In This Work, To Give A Very Curious
Unpublished Record Respecting The Miserable
Fate of the Spanish armada,
as written by a contemporary, the Reverend James Melville, minister of
Anstruther, a sea-port
Town on the Fife, or northern, shore of the
Frith of Forth.
[Footnote 349: From MS. Memoirs of James Melville, a contemporary.]
James Melville, who was born in 1556, and appears to have been inducted
to the living of Anstruther only a short time before the year 1588, left
a MS. history of his own life and times, extending to the year 1601. Of
this curious unpublished historical document, there are several copies
extant, particularly in the splendid library of the Faculty of
Advocates, and in that belonging to the Writers to the Signet, both at
Edinburgh. The present article is transcribed from a volume of MSS
belonging to a private gentleman, communicated to the editor by a valued
literary friend. It had formerly belonged to a respectable clergyman of
Edinburgh, and has the following notice of its origin written by the
person to whom it originally belonged.
"The following History of the Life of James Melville, was transcribed
from an old MS. lent to me by Sir William Calderwood of Poltoun, one of
the Judges of the Courts of Session and Justiciary, who had it among
other papers that belonged to his grand-uncle, Mr David Calderwood,
author of Altare Damascenum, History, &c."
This MS. so far as it contains the Life of James Melville, extends to
360 folio pages; of which the present article occupies about three
pages, from near the bottom of p. 184. to nearly the same part of p.
187. The orthography seems to have been considerably modernized by the
transcriber, but without changing the antiquated words and modes of
expression. Such of these as appeared difficult to be understood by our
English readers, are here explained between brackets. - E.
* * * * *
That winter, [1587-8] the King [James VI. of Scotland] was occupied in
commenting of the Apocalyps, and in setting out sermons thereupon,
against the papists and Spaniards; and yet, by a piece of great
oversight, the papists practiced never more busily in this land, and
[nor] made greater preparation for receiving of the Spaniards, nor
[than] that year. For a long time, the news of a Spanish navy and army
had been blazed abroad; and about the lambastyde of the year 1588, this
island had found a fearful effect thereof, to the utter subversion both
of kirk and policy, if God had not wonderfully watched over the same,
and mightily foughen and defeat that army, by his souldiers the
elements, which he made all four most fiercely till afflict them, till
almost utter consumption. Terrible was the fear, peircing were the
preachings, earnest zealous and fervent were the prayers, sounding were
the sighs and sabs, and abounding were the tears, at that fast and
general assembly keeped at Edinburgh, when the news were credibly told,
sometimes of their landing at Dunbar, sometimes at St Andrews and in
Tay, and now and then at Aberdeen and Cromerty firth: and, in very deed,
as we knew certainly soon after, the Lord of armies, who rides upon the
wings of the wind, the Keeper of his own Israel, was in the mean time
convying that monstrous navy about our coasts, and directing their hulks
and galliasses to the islands, rocks and sands, whereupon he had
distinat their wrack and destruction.
For, within two or three moneths thereafter, early in the morning by
break of day, one of our baillies[350] came to my bed side, saying, but
not with fray [fear], "I have to tell you news, Sir: There is arrived
within our harbour this morning, a shipfull of Spaniards, but not to
give mercy; but to ask." And so shews me that the commander had landed,
and he had commanded them to their ship again, and the Spaniards had
humbly obeyed. He therefore desired me to rise and hear their petition
with them. Up I got with diligence, and, assembling the honest men of
the town, came to the tolbooth[351], and after consultation taken to
hear them and what answer to make, there presented us a very venerable
man of big stature, and grave and stout countenance, grey haired and
very humble like, who, after much and very low courtesie, bowing down
with his face near the ground, and touching my shoe with his hand, began
his harangue in the Spanish tongue, whereof I understood the substance;
and, I being about to answer in Latin, he having only a young man with
him to be his interpreter, [who] began and told over again to us in good
English.
[Footnote 350: The baillies of towns in Scotland are equivalent to
aldermen in England. The author here refers to the town of Anstruther, a
sea port town of Fife, on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth, of
which he was minister. There are two Anstruthers, easter and wester,
very near each other, and now separate parishes; but it does not appear
to which of these the present historical document refers: Perhaps they
were then one. - E.]
[Footnote 351: The town-house; but now generally applied to signify the
prison, then, and even now, often attached to the town hall. - E.]
The sum was, That king Philip his master had rigged out a navy and army
to land in England, for just causes to be avenged of many intollerable
wrongs which he had received of that nation. But God, for their sins,
had been against them, and by storm of weather had driven the navy _by_
[past] the coast of England, and him with certain captains, being the
general of twenty hulks, upon an isle of Scotland called the Fair isle,
where they had made shipwrack, and were, so many as had escaped the
merciless seas and rocks, more nor [than] six or seven weeks suffered
great hunger and cold, till conducting that bark out of Orkney, they
were come hither as to their special friends and confederates, to kiss
the kings majesties hand of Scotland, and herewith he _becked_ [bowed]
even to the _yeard_ [ground]; and to find relief and comfort thereby to
himself, these gentlemen, captains, and the poor souldiers, whose
condition was for the present most miserable and pitiful.
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